meter
Meanings
noun
- A device that measures things.
- A parking meter or similar device for collecting payment.
- One who metes or measures.
- A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.
verb
- To measure with a metering device.
- To imprint a postage mark with a postage meter.
- To regulate the flow of or to deliver in regulated amounts (usually of fluids but sometimes of other things such as anticipation or breath).
noun
- US standard spelling of metre (“a unit of measure”).
noun
- US standard spelling of metre (“the rhythm or measure in language”).
- A poem.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English metere (“one who measures, measurer”), perhaps (with change in suffix) from Old English metend (“one who measures or metes”), equivalent to mete (“to measure”) + -er. The transference from "person who measures" to "device that measures" was probably assisted by association with -meter, as in barometer, etc. Cognate with Scots mettar, metter (“meter, measurer”), Saterland Frisian Meter, Meeter (“measurer, measuring device, gauge”), West Frisian mjitter (“measurer”), Dutch meter (“measurer, gauge”), German Low German Meter (“measuring device, gauge”), German Messer (“measurer, measuring device, gauge”), Swedish mätare (“measurer”).
Related words
Derived words
Translations
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.