Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

kilometer

/kɪˈlɑ.mɪ.təɹ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.19 in modern English

Syllables: kilo-me-ter
IPA: /kɪˈlɑ.mɪ.təɹ/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

US spelling of kilometre.

American usage

Example Sentences

"When classes start in September, the University of Macau’s new campus — still under construction on about a square kilometer, or roughly 250 acres, on Hengqin Island in southern Guangdong Province — will be “handed over” to Macau governance in accordance with a 2009 bill by the National People’s Congress in Beijing."
"At around 5:30 a.m., crewmembers of a JCG patrol boat received an SOS from the 106,726-ton freighter Anangel Courage. The patrol vessel and a JCG plane found the freighter on the high seas about 67 kilometers away from Uotsuri Island, one of the Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China."

Etymology

From kilo- + meter.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /kɪˈlɑ.mɪ.təɹ/
British English: /kɪˈlɒm.ɪ.tə/

Usage

American usage

Inflected Forms

kilometers (plural)

Derived Forms

multikilometer subkilometer

Phrases

kilometer-wide square kilometer

Synonyms

kilometre km klick

Homonyms

kilometre

Rhymes With

thermometer spectrometer speedometer accelerometer interferometer odometer micrometer magnetometer dynamometer hydrometer anemometer hygrometer

Questions

How do you pronounce kilometer?: The recorded pronunciation is /kɪˈlɑ.mɪ.təɹ/.
What does kilometer mean?: US spelling of kilometre.
Where does kilometer come from?: From kilo- + meter.

How to pronounce kilometer

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “kilometer”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/kɪˈlɑ.mɪ.təɹ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “kilometer”.
Repeat and practice — Say “kilometer” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.