measure

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English[edit]

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Etymology[edit]

From Middle English mesure, from Old French mesure, from Latin mēnsūra (“a measure”), from mēnsus, past participle of mētīrī (“to measure”). Displaced native Old English metan (“to measure”) and ġemet (“a measure”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

measure (plural measures)

  1. A prescribed quantity or extent.
    1. (obsolete) Moderation, temperance. [13th–19th c.]
    2. A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.) [from 14th c.]
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
        Full to the utmost measure of what bliss Human desires can seek or apprehend.
      • 2005, J Coarguo, Hávamál: The Words of the High One a Personal Interpretation:
        but there is never found a foolish man who knows the measure of his stomach
      • 25 August 2009, Mike Selvey, The Guardian:
        They have gloried to this day, the tedious interminable big-screen replays of that golden summer irritating beyond measure.
    3. An (unspecified) portion or quantity. [from 16th c.]
      • 6 September 2013, Daniel Taylor, “Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
        It ended up being a bittersweet night for England, full of goals to send the crowd home happy, buoyed by the news that Montenegro and Poland had drawn elsewhere in Group H but also with a measure of regret about what happened to Danny Welbeck and what it means for Roy Hodgson's team going into a much more difficult assignment against Ukraine.
  2. The act or result of measuring.
    1. (now chiefly cooking) A receptacle or vessel of a standard size, capacity etc. as used to deal out specific quantities of some substance. [from 14th c.]
      a measure of salt
    2. A standard against which something can be judged; a criterion. [from 14th c.]
      • 2011 October 23, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 1-6 Man City”, in BBC Sport:
        City were also the victors on that occasion 56 years ago, winning 5-0, but this visit was portrayed as a measure of their progress against the 19-time champions.
      Honesty is the true measure of a man.
    3. Any of various standard units of capacity. [from 14th c.]
      The villagers paid a tithe of a thousand measures of corn.
    4. A unit of measurement. [from 14th c.]
      • 1993, Scientific American February 33.3:
        The fragments shrank by increments of about three kilodaltons (a measure of molecular weight).
    5. The size of someone or something, as ascertained by measuring. (Now chiefly in make to measure.) [from 14th c.]
    6. (now rare) The act or process of measuring. [from 14th c.]
    7. A ruler, measuring stick, or graduated tape used to take measurements. [from 16th c.]
    8. (mathematics, now rare) A number which is contained in a given number a number of times without a remainder; a divisor or factor. [from 16th c.]
      the greatest common measure of two or more numbers
    9. (geology) A bed or stratum. [from 17th c.]
      coal measures; lead measures
    10. (mathematics) A function that assigns a non-negative number to a given set following the mathematical nature that is common among length, volume, probability and the like. [from 20th c.]
  3. Metrical rhythm.
    1. (now archaic) A melody. [from 14th c.]
    2. (now archaic) A dance. [from 15th c.]
    3. (poetry) The manner of ordering and combining the quantities, or long and short syllables; meter; rhythm; hence, a metrical foot. [from 15th c.]
      a poem in iambic measure
    4. (music) A musical designation consisting of all notes and or rests delineated by two vertical bars; an equal and regular division of the whole of a composition; a bar. [from 17th c.]
  4. A course of action.
    1. (in the plural) Actions designed to achieve some purpose; plans. [from 17th c.]
    2. A piece of legislation. [from 18th c.]
      • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
        The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

Synonyms[edit]

  • (musical designation): bar
  • (unit of measurement): metric

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from the noun measure

Descendants[edit]

  • → Japanese: メジャー (mejā)

Translations[edit]

moderation, temperance — see moderation,‎ temperance
unit of measurement — see unit of measurement
math: number which is contained in a given number without remainder — see divisor,‎ factor
geology: bed or stratum — see bed,‎ stratum
melody — see melody
dance — see dance
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb[edit]

measure (third-person singular simple present measures, present participle measuring, simple past and past participle measured)

  1. To ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard.
    • 2013 June 1, “Towards the end of poverty”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 11:
      But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.
    We measured the temperature with a thermometer.   You should measure the angle with a spirit level.
  2. (stative) To be of (a certain size), to have (a certain measurement)
    The window measured two square feet.
  3. To estimate the unit size of something.
    I measure that at 10 centimetres.
  4. To judge, value, or appraise.
    • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
      ſince they meaſure our deſerts so meane,
      That in conceit beare Empires on our ſpeares,
      Affecting thoughts coequall with the cloudes,
      They ſhalbe kept our forced followers,
      Til with their eies they view vs Emperours.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      Great are thy works, Jehovah, infinite / Thy power! what thought can measure thee?
  5. To obtain or set apart; to mark in even increments.
  6. (rare) To traverse, cross, pass along; to travel over.
    • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:
      A true devoted pilgrim is not weary / To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps.
    • 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:
      "And for a very sensible reason; there never was but one like her; or, that is, I have always thought so until to-day," replied the tar, glancing toward Natalie; "for my old eyes have seen pretty much everything they have got in this little world. Ha! I should like to see the inch of land or water that my foot hasn't measured."
  7. To adjust by a rule or standard.
    • 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
      To secure a contented spirit, you must measure your desires by your fortune and condition, not your fortunes by your desires
  8. To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; often with out or off.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from the verb measure

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

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