A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters or approximately 0.62 miles. A standard measurement used in most countries for distances.
From French kilomètre, combining Greek khilioi (thousand) and metron (measure). Coined during the French Revolution as part of the metric system, designed to create universal, decimal-based measurements.
The kilometre was originally defined as one ten-thousandth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole, making it literally a fraction of Earth itself - though modern satellite measurements show the original calculation was off by about 200 meters!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.