odometer
oh-DAHM-uh-ter
/oʊˈdɑː.mɪ.tɚ/
An instrument on a vehicle's dashboard that indicates the total distance travelled by the vehicle.
Measures total distance accumulated over time, unlike a speedometer which measures current real-time speed.
The story behind the word. From Greek 'hodos' (way or path) and 'metron' (measure). Ancient Greek hero Hero of Alexandria described an early odometer for horse carriages around 100 BCE, using gear wheels dropped into a box to count wheel rotations.
Word relationships
- mileometer: 'Mileometer' (or milometer) is a British English synonym for odometer.
Commonly confused with
- speedometer: A speedometer displays current speed (mph/kph), whereas an odometer records cumulative total distance.
Word family
- odometers (noun): plural form of odometer
Collocations
- odometer reading
- digital odometer
- trip odometer
- rollback the odometer
Example sentences
- "The buyer scrutinized the digital odometer to confirm that the secondhand sedan had driven fewer than 50,000 miles." Used car purchase evaluation
- "Tampering with an odometer to hide high mileage is a federal crime known as odometer fraud." Legal record keeping
Memory hook
OH DO METERS count up? Yes, the ODOmeter tracks distance on your journey. Measures the distance of your road journey.
When not to use
Do not confuse with speedometer or tachometer (RPM gauge).
Fun facts
- Benjamin Franklin invented a simple mechanical odometer attached to his carriage to measure the shortest mail delivery routes across Philadelphia.
Explore more words
Mileage, gauge, telemetry, Dashboard, differential, cumulative
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