The thing is, while “meter” and “metre” are pronounced the same, when you use them in compound words they’re not. Thermometer or odometer are pronounced with stress on the second syllable (the syllable immediately prior to “meter”), but kilometre and centimetre are pronounced with the stress on the third syllable (“MEtre”).
Kilometer has the same stressed syllable as odometer in American English.
Easier just to distinguish pronunciation as -ometer vs -meter.
Easier just to distinguish pronunciation as -ometer vs -meter.
But kilometre and thermometer both have ometer
Right, and in most American dialects they are pronounced the same. Whereas Centimeter is pronounced differently and does not have an “ometer”