Meter vs. Metric

Published: 24 May, 2021

Meternoun

(always meter) A device that measures things.

Metricadjective

of or relating to the metric system of measurement

Meternoun

(always meter) A parking meter or similar device for collecting payment.

‘gas meter’;

Metricadjective

(music) of or relating to the meter of a piece of music.

Meternoun

(always meter) (dated) One who metes or measures.

‘a labouring coal-meter’;

Metricadjective

of or relating to distance

Meternoun

The base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), conceived of as 1/10000000 of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator, and now defined as the distance light will travel in a vacuum in 1/299792458 second.

Metricnoun

A measure for something; a means of deriving a quantitative measurement or approximation for otherwise qualitative phenomena (especially used in engineering)

‘What metric should be used for performance evaluation?’; ‘What are the most important metrics to track for your business?’; ‘It's the most important single metric that quantifies the predictive performance.’; ‘How to measure marketing? Use these key metrics for measuring marketing effectiveness.’; ‘There is a lack of standard metrics.’;

Meternoun

(music) An increment of music; the overall rhythm; particularly, the number of beats in a measure.

Metricnoun

(mathematics) A measurement of the "distance" between two points in some metric space: it is a real-valued function d(x,y) between points x and y satisfying the following properties: (1) "non-negativity": $d(x,y) \ge 0$ , (2) "identity of indiscernibles": $d(x,y) = 0 \mbox{ iff } x=y$ , (2) "symmetry": $d(x,y) = d(y,x)$ , and (3) "triangle inequality": $d(x,y) \le d(x,z) + d(z,y)$ .

Meternoun

The rhythm pattern in a poem.

Metricnoun

(mathematics) a metric tensor

Meternoun

A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.

Metricnoun

abbreviation of metric system

Meternoun

(obsolete) A poem.

Metricverb

To measure or analyse statistical data concerning the quality or effectiveness of a process.

‘We need to metric the status of software documentation.’; ‘We need to metric the verification of requirements.’; ‘We need to metric the system failures.’; ‘The project manager is metricking the closure of the action items.’; ‘Customer satisfaction was metricked by the marketing department.’;

Meterverb

to measure with a metering device.

Metricadjective

Relating to measurement; involving, or proceeding by, measurement.

Meterverb

to imprint a postage mark with a postage meter

Metricadjective

Of or pertaining to the meter as a standard of measurement; of or pertaining to the decimal system of measurement of which a meter is the unit; as, the metric system; a metric measurement.

Meterverb

to regulate the flow of or to deliver in regulated amounts (usually of fluids but sometimes of other things such as anticipation or breath)

Metricnoun

a function of a topological space that gives, for any two points in the space, a value equal to the distance between them

Meternoun

One who, or that which, metes or measures. See Coal-meter.

Metricnoun

a decimal unit of measurement of the metric system (based on meters and kilograms and seconds);

‘convert all the measurements to metric units’; ‘it is easier to work in metric’;

Meternoun

An instrument for measuring, and usually for recording automatically, the quantity measured.

Metricnoun

a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic

Meternoun

A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.

Metricadjective

based on the meter as a standard of measurement;

‘the metric system’; ‘metrical equivalents’;

Meternoun

Rhythmical arrangement of syllables or words into verses, stanzas, strophes, etc.; poetical measure, depending on number, quantity, and accent of syllables; rhythm; measure; verse; also, any specific rhythmical arrangements; as, the Horatian meters; a dactylic meter.

‘The only strict antithesis to prose is meter.’;

Metricadjective

the rhythmic arrangement of syllables

Meternoun

A poem.

Meternoun

A measure of length, equal to 39.37 English inches, the standard of linear measure in the metric system of weights and measures. It was intended to be, and is very nearly, the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to the north pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an arc of a meridian. See Metric system, under Metric.

Meternoun

the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)

Meternoun

any of various measuring instruments for measuring a quantity

Meternoun

(prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse

Meternoun

rhythm as given by division into parts of equal time

Meterverb

measure with a meter;

‘meter the flow of water’;

Meterverb