meter
[ˈmiɾɚ]
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.09 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it.
American usage; Countable; Uncountable
verb
To imprint a postage mark with a postage meter.
Example Sentences
- "gas meter"
- "a labouring coal-meter"
- "No trees have grown on the windswept Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean for tens of thousands of years — just shrubs and other low-lying vegetation. That’s why a recent arboreal discovery nearly 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the ground caught researchers’ attention."
- "A meter of […]berses in the Utopian tongue"
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [ˈmiɾɚ]
- British English: /ˈmiːtə/
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Dated
- American usage
- Obsolete