meter

noun
/ˈmitəɹ//ˈmiɾɚ/US/ˈmiːtə/UK

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”).

  1. derived from μέτρον
  2. derived from metrum
  3. derived from metre
  4. inherited from meter
  5. inherited from meter

Definitions

  1. A device that measures things.

  2. One who metes or measures.

    • a labouring coal-meter
  3. A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen…

    A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.

  4. + 6 more definitions
    1. To measure with a metering device.

    2. To imprint a postage mark with a postage meter.

    3. To regulate the flow of or to deliver in regulated amounts (usually of fluids but…

      To regulate the flow of or to deliver in regulated amounts (usually of fluids but sometimes of other things such as anticipation or breath).

    4. US standard spelling of metre (“a unit of measure”).

    5. US standard spelling of metre (“the rhythm or measure in language”).

    6. A poem.

      • A meter of […]berses in the Utopian tongue

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at meter. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01meter02metes03mete04punishment05punish06beat07metric

A definitional loop anchored at meter. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at meter

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA