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meter

Etymology and origin of the English word meter

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Three words are spelled meter in American English: the rhythm of verse and the unit of length, both from Greek métron, measure, and a measuring device, formed in English partly on the verb mete.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈmiːtə/ (UK); /ˈmitəɹ/ (US)[4]

meter1 verse rhythm

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 899
Borrowed from
Latin metrum
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (μέτρον)

Etymology

It is Old English borrowed from Latin mēter, from Latin metrum,[2][1][5] from Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure, a verse”),[1][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *me- (“to measure”).[1][2] After a gap of about 300 years in the record it was probably borrowed again in the early 14th century from Old French metre.[1][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Metre, versification: before 899, probably in Alfred's translation of Bede.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century it came back with the specific sense of the metrical scheme of verse.[1] George Saintsbury in 1911 objected to calling the heroic line a pentameter and the octosyllabic line a tetrameter, which he thought a misuse of the classical terms.[1] The rhythm of a piece of music is a later sense.[6]

Timeline

  • before 899 – mēter.[2]
  • early 14th century – reborrowed.[1]
  • 1911 – Saintsbury's objection.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The measured arrangement of stresses or syllables in verse; a particular pattern of this, such as iambic pentameter.
  2. The division of music into measures, or its rhythm.

Word family

  • metrical
  • metre

meter2 unit of length

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1797
Borrowed from
French mètre
Ultimate origin
French (mètre)

Etymology

It is borrowed from French mètre,[2][1] from Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The unit of the metric system: 1797, as metre.[2][1]

Semantic evolution

It was first intended to be one ten-millionth of a quadrant of the earth's meridian.[1] The unit was officially adopted by the French National Assembly in 1795–96, after it asked the Academy of Sciences to develop a decimal system,[2] based on a proposal made in 1670 by the clergyman Gabriel Mouton.[2][1] It was redefined in 1983 as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.[6]

Timeline

  • 1670 – Mouton's proposal.[2]
  • 1795–96 – adopted in France.[2]
  • 1797 – metre in English.[2]
  • 1983 – redefined by light.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The basic unit of length in the metric system, about 39.37 inches.

Word family

  • metric
  • kilometer
  • centimeter
  • millimeter

meter3 measuring device

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1815

Etymology

It is probably abstracted from gas-meter (1815) and gasometer (1790), under the influence of French -mètre, from Latin metrum or Greek métron, measure,[2][1] and partly an extended use of the earlier meter, one who measures (about 1384, and a surname from 1307), from mete, to measure, and -er.[2][1][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A gas meter: 1815;[2][7] any measuring apparatus, 1832 (1830 in Barnhart).[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The official who checked that quantities were correctly measured was a meter from the late 14th century.[1][7] A gauge of fluctuations is figurative from 1860, and an exposure meter from 1920.[7] A meter reader, originally of gas meters, is by 1872,[1] a parking meter and its short form meter from 1960,[1] and the meter maid who patrols metered parking by 1957.[1] The verb, to measure with a meter, followed the noun.[2][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – one who measures.[2]
  • 1815 – gas meter.[2]
  • 1832 – any measuring device.[7]
  • 1957 – meter maid.[1]
  • 1960 – parking meter.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A device that measures and records a quantity, such as gas, electricity or speed.
  2. A parking meter or postage meter.

Verb

  1. To measure with a meter.
  2. To supply in a measured amount.

Word family

  • metered

Usage notes

Meter is the American spelling of the verse and length senses, for which British English uses metre.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Meter.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/meter. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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