metre
pronunciation
How to pronounce metre in British English:
UK [ˈmiːtə(r)]
How to pronounce metre in American English:
US [ˈmiːtər]
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- Noun:
- the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 094 yards)
- (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
- rhythm as given by division into parts of equal time
Word Origin
- metre
- metre: [14] Greek métron meant ‘measure’: it came ultimately from the Indo-European base *me- ‘measure’, which also produced English measure, immense, etc. English originally acquired it, via Latin metrum and Old French metre, in the sense ‘measured rhythmic pattern of verse’. Then at the end of the 18th century French mètre was designated as the standard measure of length in the new metric system, and English reborrowed it as metre. Meter ‘measuring device’ [19] is probably a nominalization of the element -meter, occurring in such compounds as galvanometer [19], gasometer [18], and pedometer [18], which itself went back via French -mètre or modern Latin -metrum to Greek métron.=> commensurate, immense, measure, mete
- metre (n.)
- chiefly British English spelling of meter (n.); for spelling, see -re.
Example
- 1. Now the size of transistors is measured in billionths of a metre .
- 2. At the moment the membranes at tofte put out one watt per square metre .
- 3. They stepped off the building : the third floor now stood just one metre above ground .
- 4. Average yearly rainfall in all three states exceeds 40 inches ( just over a metre ) .
- 5. The 250 metre tower will contain luxury apartments and a hotel , and is currently under construction .