Odometer vs. Pedometer — What's the Difference?

An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical).

A pedometer, or step-counter, is a device, usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of the person's hands or hips. Because the distance of each person's step varies, an informal calibration, performed by the user, is required if presentation of the distance covered in a unit of length (such as in kilometers or miles) is desired, though there are now pedometers that use electronics and software to automatically determine how a person's step varies.

An instrument for measuring the distance travelled by a wheeled vehicle.

An instrument that gauges the approximate distance traveled on foot by registering the number of steps taken.

An instrument that indicates distance traveled by a vehicle.

A device, often electronic, that measures the number of steps taken, and thus estimates the distance walked.

An instrument, usually embedded within the speedometer of a vehicle, that measures the distance the vehicle has traveled since production.

(North American) paedometer

A wheel used by surveyors, which registers distance traveled.

An instrument for including the number of steps in walking, and so ascertaining the distance passed over. It is usually in the form of a watch; an oscillating weight by the motion of the body causes the index to advance a certain distance at each step.

An instrument attached to a vehicle or connected, as by a flexible cable, to the wheel of a vehicle, which measures the distance traversed.

Measuring instrument for recording the number of steps taken in walking

A hodometer.

A meter that shows mileage traversed