means A unit of length equal to one thousand meters, roughly the distance you can walk in about twelve minutes.

from A French invention, kilomètre, stitched together from Greek khilioi, 'thousand,' and metron, 'measure' — the latter giving us 'meter' itself. It was forged during the metric reforms that followed the French Revolution, when the new republic set out to rationalize weights and measures for everyone. The metric prefix 'kilo-' has marched on ever since to multiply kilograms, kilowatts, and more by a thousand.