Meter

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈmitəɹ/

Definitions

1. A fundamental unit for measuring length in the metric system ; a device or instrument used for measuring quantities like distance, volume, or electricity ; the pattern or arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables or beats in poetry or music
2. The base metric measurement equal to one hundred centimeters ; an apparatus that gauges specific physical quantities such as gas flow or electrical usage ; the structured timing and beat pattern that gives rhythm to poems and musical compositions
3. A standard unit equivalent to approximately 3.28 feet used in measurement ; an instrument designed to quantify or record a particular measurement ; the characteristic sequence of beats or syllables that determines the rhythm in verse or sound

Etymology: The word has two unrelated lines that happen to share a spelling. The older one names a person: Middle English "metere" meant "one who measures," a measurer, likely descended from an Old English word "metend" built on "mete," meaning "to measure." Dutch "meter," German "Messer," and Swedish "mätare" all keep that sense of a person doing the measuring. Over time, the same form drifted to mean a device that measures, and that shift was probably helped by the pull of the -meter ending seen in words like barometer. The unit of length is a different story. It came through French "mètre," which was borrowed from Latin "metrum," and that in turn came from Greek "métron," meaning "measure." The Latin and Greek root is the same one behind "metre" in poetry, so the English word for a unit and the word for verse rhythm are cousins. In English, the spelling "meter" for the unit is the American form, while British writers usually prefer "metre" for the same thing.

Synonyms: gauge, measure