kilomètre French · revision 17584

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1795, Bulletin des lois|origins=grc χίλιοι, grc μέτρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Belgium): /ki.lɔ.mɛːtʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (France): /ki.lɔ.mɛtʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /ki.lɔ.maɛ̯tʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /kʰi.lɔ.ˈmae̯tʁ̥/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''kilomètre''' ''m'' (plural kilomètres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|kilo-|mètre]], one of the names coined for the metric system.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) [[kilo-|alt=Kilo-]] was taken from [[grc|χίλιοι|tr=khílioi|t=thousand]],^(Wiktionary) and [[mètre]] was borrowed in 1791 from [[grc|μέτρον|tr=métron|t=measure]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Purists of the 19th century objected that the Greek element should have kept the full Greek stem;^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary records the variants [[chiliomètre]] and [[chilomètre]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The law of 18 Germinal year III (1795) defines it as the unit of a thousand metres;^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) the Robert dictionaries date the word to 1790.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It gradually replaced the traditional names of distances, such as the [[lieue]], and won out with modern transport.^(DHLF 1992) Victor Hugo still called it part of “l'affreuse langue que la loi veut nous faire”.^(GLLF 1989) 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''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In athletics ''le kilomètre'' was a race distance by 1898;^(BHVF) the ''kilomètre lancé'' is a speed event in skiing.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1790 – The word is coined.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1795 – Defined in the law of 18 Germinal year III.^(TLFi)

+ * 1811 – The derivative ''kilométrique''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1835 – Recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+ * 1888 – ''Manger du kilomètre''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1898 – A race distance in athletics.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A unit of [[m|en|distance]] of a thousand metres (symbol km): ''faire cinq kilomètres à pied''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Kilomètre à l'heure'', ''kilomètre-heure'': a unit of [[m|en|speed]] (km/h).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Kilomètre carré'': a square kilometre, a million square metres.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(familiar, hyperbole)'' A great length: ''des kilomètres de rayonnages''.^(TLFi)

+ # Transport over one kilometre, as a unit of cost or statistics: ''le prix du kilomètre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(sport)'' ''Kilomètre lancé'': a timed speed event in skiing.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[kilométrique]]

+ * [[kilométrage]]

+ * [[mètre]]

+ * [[kilo-]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}