mètre French · revision 15800

+ French has two words spelled ''mètre'': the unit of length, coined in 1791 from Greek, and the older term of versification, from Latin.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ {{homograph|1|unit of length}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1791|origins=grc μέτρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɛtʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /maɛ̯tʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mètre''' ''m'' (plural mètres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The unit is [[bor|grc|μέτρον|tr=métron|t=measure]], adopted by a law of 26 March 1791 during the work on the metric system.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/2, 62b) [[la-lat|metrum]] already meant a measuring instrument and a measured space, and Old French had [[m|fro|metre]] for a measure of capacity (1367).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rey links the Greek word to the Indo-European root of [[mesure]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first recorded on 26 March 1791 as the unit of length on which the metric system is based;^(TLFi) the report of Borda, Lagrange, Condorcet and Laplace to the Academy of Sciences used it in 1792.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was defined at first as one ten-millionth of the quarter of a meridian and given a standard in 1799;^(Petit Robert 2007) since 1983 it is defined by the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse) ''Mètre carré'' and ''mètre cube'' date from 1803,^(TLFi) and by metonymy the word named a graduated measuring rule or tape (1868).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It also names races by their length (''un cent mètres'', 1898).^(DHLF 1992) The derivatives ''métrique'' (''système métrique'', 1795), ''métrer'' and ''métrage'' followed.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1367 – Old French ''metre'' for a measure of capacity.^(TLFi)

+ * 1791 – The unit of length is adopted.^(TLFi)

+ * 1795 – ''Système métrique''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1803 – ''Mètre cube''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1868 – A measuring rule, in Littré.^(TLFi)

+ * 1983 – Redefined by the speed of light.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|metre|alt=meter]], the base unit of length of the metric system (symbol m).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A measuring rule or [[m|en|tape measure|alt=tape]] one metre or more long.^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Un cent mètres'': a race over that distance.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[métrique]]

+ * [[métrer]]

+ * [[métreur]]

+ * [[métrage]]

+ * [[centimètre]]

+ * [[kilomètre]]

+ * [[millimètre]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|verse metre}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th century|origins=grc μέτρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɛtʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /maɛ̯tʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mètre''' ''m'' (plural mètres)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verse term is [[bor|la|metrum|t=metre, measure of a verse; verse]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|6/2, 63b) from [[grc|μέτρον|tr=métron|t=measure]], used especially of verse.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found as ''metre'' in a late 12th-century account of the First Crusade.^(TLFi) Oresme (14th century) speaks of Euripides' ''mettres''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was used first of Greek and Latin verse, of the kind of line determined by its feet, and then of French lines defined by the number of syllables and the caesura.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) In Greek prosody it can also mean a group of two feet.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi) The adjective ''métrique'' (1495, ''metricque'') and the noun ''la métrique'' “the study of metre” (1672) belong to it.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Metre'' in a crusade narrative.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1361 – Oresme uses it of Greek and Latin verse.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1495 – The adjective ''metricque''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(prosody)'' In Greek and Latin verse, the [[m|en|metre|alt=meter]] of a line, set by the number and order of its [[m|en|foot|alt=feet]]; a group of two feet.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # The structure of a line of verse; a type of line by its number of syllables: ''l'alexandrin, mètre héroïque''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(literary)'' Verse, lines of poetry.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[métricien]]

+ * [[métromanie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mesure]]

+ * [[grc|μέτρον|tr=métron]]

+ * [[en|metre]]

+ * [[en|meter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}