km

km — noun

1. written abbreviation for kilometre — a unit for measuring distance, equal to 1,0

1.nounA2
Definition

written abbreviation for kilometre — a unit for measuring distance, equal to 1,000 metres.

Example

The nearest hospital is about three km from Femi's house.

abbreviation used after a number to show distance

Camille ran five km every morning before heading to work.

Common collocations
  • km from
  • km to
  • km per hour
  • km²

Usage Note

This abbreviation is used mainly in writing after a number (e.g. 5 km). In spoken English, people usually say 'kilometres' in full. Do not add a space between the number and 'km' in formal contexts, though a thin space is acceptable. Note that the metric spelling is kilometre (British) or kilometer (American); the abbreviation km is the same in both varieties.

Common Mistakes

I walked 5 kms yesterday.
I walked 5 km yesterday.
km is already plural (kilometres); never add an -s to the abbreviation.
The sign says 5 km.' (when in Taiwan, where the metric system is used)
The sign says 5公里.
In Chinese contexts, use 公里 rather than km in natural written Chinese, though km is understood.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

km is the written abbreviation for kilometre, the standard metric unit of distance. A mile (≈1.6 km) is a non-metric unit used mostly in the US, UK, and a few other countries. A metre (m) is a smaller unit (1 km = 1,000 m), used for shorter distances. In Taiwan and China, the traditional unit is 里 (lǐ), but this is rarely used in official measurements today — public road signs and speed limits use 公里 (km). Learners should use km for writing distances in English, and remember that 1 km ≈ 0.62 miles.

kilometre ↗mile ↗metre ↗li (里)

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • km per hour
  • square km (km²)

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekFrenchEnglish

From French 'kilomètre', coined in the 1790s from Greek 'khilioi' (thousand) and French 'mètre' (metre). The abbreviation 'km' was adopted internationally alongside the metric system and is now the standard written form for kilometres in all languages using the Latin alphabet.