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metre

 - 12 dictionary results

me⋅tre

  [mee-ter]
Use metre in a Sentence
–noun, verb, -tred, -tring. British.
meter.

me⋅ter

1  [mee-ter]
–noun
the fundamental unit of length in the metric system, equivalent to 39.37 U.S. inches, originally intended to be, and being very nearly, equal to one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the pole measured on a meridian: defined from 1889 to 1960 as the distance between two lines on a platinum-iridium bar (the “International Prototype Meter”) preserved at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris; from 1960 to 1983 defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red radiation of krypton 86 under specified conditions; and now defined as 1/299,792,458 of the distance light travels in a vacuum in one second. Abbreviation: m
Also, British, metre.

Origin:
1790–1800; < F mètre < Gk métron measure

me⋅ter

2  [mee-ter]
–noun
1. Music.
a. the rhythmic element as measured by division into parts of equal time value.
b. the unit of measurement, in terms of number of beats, adopted for a given piece of music. Compare measure (def. 14).
2. Prosody.
a. poetic measure; arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses.
b. a particular form of such arrangement, depending on either the kind or the number of feet constituting the verse or both rhythmic kind and number of feet (usually used in combination): pentameter; dactylic meter; iambic trimeter.
Also, British, metre.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME metir, metur, OE meter < L metrum poetic meter, verse < Gk métron measure; r. ME metre < MF < L as above

me⋅ter

3  [mee-ter]
–noun
1. an instrument for measuring, esp. one that automatically measures and records the quantity of something, as of gas, water, miles, or time, when it is activated.
2. parking meter.
–verb (used with object)
3. to measure by means of a meter.
4. to process (mail) by means of a postage meter.
Also, British, metre.

Origin:
1805–15; see mete 1 , -er 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To metre
me·tre 1   (mē'tər)   
n.   Chiefly British
Variant of meter1.
me·tre 2   (mē'tər)   
n.   Chiefly British
Variant of meter2.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

meter

The basic unit of length in the metric system; it was originally planned so that the circumference of the Earth would be measured at about forty million meters. A meter is 39.37 inches. Today, the meter is defined to be the distance light travels in 1 / 299,792,458 seconds.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

meter  (1)
"poetic measure," O.E. meter, from L. metrum, from Gk. metron "meter, measure," from PIE base *me- "measure" (see meter (2)). Possibly reborrowed c.1330 (after a 300-year gap in recorded use) from O.Fr. metre, with specific sense of "metrical scheme in verse," from L. metrum.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2meter
Function: noun
: an instrument for measuring and sometimes recording the time or amount of something

Main Entry: metre
chiefly British variant of METER
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

meter me·ter (mē'tər)
n.
Abbr. m
The standard unit of length in the International System of Units that is equivalent to 39.37 inches.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

metre unit
(US "meter") The fundamental SI unit of length.
From 1889 to 1960, the metre was defined to be the distance between two scratches in a platinum-iridium bar kept in the vault beside the Standard Kilogram at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris.
This replaced an earlier definition as 10^-7 times the distance between the North Pole and the Equator along a meridian through Paris; unfortunately, this had been based on an inexact value of the circumference of the Earth.
From 1960 to 1984 it was defined to be 1650763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red line of krypton-86 propagating in a vacuum.
It is now defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum in the time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.
(1998-02-07)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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