Word of the Day Archive
Monday June 4, 2001
commensurate \kuh-MEN(T)S-uhr-it; -shuhr-\ , adjective:
1. Equal in measure, extent, or duration.
2. Corresponding in size or degree or extent; proportionate.
3. Having a common measure; commensurable; reducible to a common measure; as, commensurate quantities.
A new era, Hoover called it, one that was witnessing breathtaking transformations in traditional ways of life and that demanded commensurate transformations in the institutions and techniques sof government.
-- David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear
It is almost a rule: the successful American--Vanderbilt, Frick, Rockefeller, Hearst, Gates--builds himself a house commensurate with his fortune.
-- Michael Knox Beran, The Last Patrician
The Shi'a represent a plurality in Lebanon, where only in recent years they have gained a degree of political power commensurate with their numbers.
-- Graham E. Fuller and Rend Rahim Francke, The Arab Shi'a: The Forgotten Muslims
Commensurate is from Late Latin commensuratus, from Latin com-, "with, together" + Late Latin mensuratus, past participle of mensurare, "to measure," from Latin mensura, "measure."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for commensurate
