benchmark

Meanings

1. A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.
2. A surveyor's mark made on some stationary object and shown on a map; used as a reference point.
3. A computer program that is executed to assess the performance of the runtime environment.

1. To measure the performance or quality of (an item) relative to another similar item in an impartial scientific manner.
2. To give certain results in a benchmark test.
3. To use something (e.g., a competitor's product) as a standard to improve one's own thing.

Etymology

From bench + mark. First use appears c. 1842. Originally a mark cut into a stone by land surveyors to secure a bench (from land surveying jargon in the 19th century, meaning a type of bracket), to mount measuring equipment. The figurative sense first appears c. 1884.