Etymologically
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kilomètre

Etymology and origin of the French word kilomètre

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1795, Bulletin des lois
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (χίλιοι,μέτρον)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek μέτρον
English symmetry
Latin metrum
French mètre
English meter
French kilomètre

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Belgium): /ki.lɔ.mɛːtʁ/[1]
  • IPA (France): /ki.lɔ.mɛtʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Canada): /ki.lɔ.maɛ̯tʁ/[1]
  • IPA (Canada): /kʰi.lɔ.ˈmae̯tʁ̥/[1]

Forms

kilomètre m (plural kilomètres)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French kilo- + mètre, one of the names coined for the metric system.[2][3][1] Kilo- was taken from Ancient Greek χίλιοι (khílioi, “thousand”),[1] and mètre was borrowed in 1791 from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”).[2][4] Purists of the 19th century objected that the Greek element should have kept the full Greek stem;[5] Wiktionary records the variants chiliomètre and chilomètre.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The law of 18 Germinal year III (1795) defines it as the unit of a thousand metres;[2][6] the Robert dictionaries date the word to 1790.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

It gradually replaced the traditional names of distances, such as the lieue, and won out with modern transport.[5] Victor Hugo still called it part of “l'affreuse langue que la loi veut nous faire”.[6] From it came kilomètre à l'heure and kilomètre-heure for speed, the familiar manger or bouffer du kilomètre “to drive on and on” (1888), and statistical units such as kilomètre-voyageur.[5][7] In athletics le kilomètre was a race distance by 1898;[8] the kilomètre lancé is a speed event in skiing.[9][7]

Timeline

  • 1790 – The word is coined.[3][5]
  • 1795 – Defined in the law of 18 Germinal year III.[2]
  • 1811 – The derivative kilométrique.[5]
  • 1835 – Recorded by the Académie.[2]
  • 1888 – Manger du kilomètre.[5]
  • 1898 – A race distance in athletics.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A unit of distance of a thousand metres (symbol km): faire cinq kilomètres à pied.[7][9]
  2. Kilomètre à l'heure, kilomètre-heure: a unit of speed (km/h).[7][9]
  3. Kilomètre carré: a square kilometre, a million square metres.[7][6]
  4. (familiar, hyperbole) A great length: des kilomètres de rayonnages.[2]
  5. Transport over one kilometre, as a unit of cost or statistics: le prix du kilomètre.[7]
  6. (sport) Kilomètre lancé: a timed speed event in skiing.[9][7]
  • kilométrique
  • kilométrage
  • mètre
  • kilo-

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Kilomètre.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/kilom%C3%A8tre. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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