meter English · revision 8013

+ 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]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmiːtə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈmitəɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|verse rhythm}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 899|origins=grc μέτρον}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Old English [[bor|la|metrum|alt=mēter]], from Latin metrum,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Greek [[m|grc|μέτρον|tr=métron|t=measure, a verse]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from PIE [[ine-pro|*meh₁-|alt=*me-|t=to measure]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) After a gap of about 300 years in the record it was probably borrowed again in the early 14th century from Old French metre.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Metre, versification: before 899, probably in Alfred's translation of Bede.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century it came back with the specific sense of the metrical scheme of verse.^(Etymonline) 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.^(Etymonline) The rhythm of a piece of music is a later sense.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – mēter.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 14th century – reborrowed.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1911 – Saintsbury's objection.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The measured arrangement of [[stress|alt=stresses]] or syllables in [[verse]]; a particular pattern of this, such as iambic pentameter.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The division of [[music]] into measures, or its rhythm.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metrical]]

+ * [[metre]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|unit of length}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1797|origins=fr mètre}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|mètre]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from Greek [[m|grc|μέτρον|tr=métron|t=measure]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The unit of the metric system: 1797, as metre.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was first intended to be one ten-millionth of a quadrant of the earth's meridian.^(Etymonline) 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,^(Barnhart 1988) based on a proposal made in 1670 by the clergyman Gabriel Mouton.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It was redefined in 1983 as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1670 – Mouton's proposal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1795–96 – adopted in France.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1797 – metre in English.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1983 – redefined by light.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The basic unit of length in the [[metric system]], about 39.37 inches.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metric]]

+ * [[kilometer]]

+ * [[centimeter]]

+ * [[millimeter]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|measuring device}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|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,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) 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.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A gas meter: 1815;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) any measuring apparatus, 1832 (1830 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The official who checked that quantities were correctly measured was a meter from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A gauge of fluctuations is figurative from 1860, and an exposure meter from 1920.^(OED 1989) A meter reader, originally of gas meters, is by 1872,^(Etymonline) a ''parking meter'' and its short form meter from 1960,^(Etymonline) and the ''meter maid'' who patrols metered parking by 1957.^(Etymonline) The verb, to measure with a meter, followed the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1384 – one who measures.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1815 – gas meter.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1832 – any measuring device.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1957 – meter maid.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1960 – parking meter.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device that measures and records a quantity, such as gas, electricity or [[speed]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[parking meter]] or postage meter.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To measure with a meter.^(AHD)

+ # To supply in a measured amount.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[metered]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[measure]]

+ * [[mete]]

+ * [[gasometer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Meter is the American spelling of the verse and length senses, for which British English uses metre.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}