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measure

UK/ˈmɛʒ.ə/US/ˈmɛʒ.ɚ/
verbB15 meaningsVery common — you will meet it every day · #2,385 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: measures, measured, measuring

To measure something is to find out exactly how long, heavy, hot or large it is. You run the tape along the wall, stand a child against the doorframe, tip flour onto the kitchen scales.

The noun leads a second life. A measure is a step taken to deal with a problem — safety measures, emergency measures, a government measure going before parliament. It is also an amount: a measure of whisky, a large measure of luck, blame shared in equal measure. Made to measure means cut to one person's exact size, and to measure up is to be good enough. As an adjective, measured means calm and unhurried — a measured reply, a measured pace. The forms are regular: measured, measuring, and the tool you buy is a tape measure.

Definitions of measure

  1. 1verbmeasureTo find the size, amount or degree of something.B1

    “He measured the window twice before ordering the blind.”

  2. 2verbparticularTo be a particular size.B1

    “The room measures four metres by three.”

  3. 3nounstepAn action taken in order to deal with a problem.B2

    “The council brought in new measures to slow traffic near the school.”

    synonyms: step, action

  4. 4nounamountAn amount or degree of something.B2

    “The plan worked, in no small measure because she refused to give up.”

  5. 5noununitA unit or standard used for measuring.B1

    “A litre is a measure of volume.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

Phrases it lives in

  • for good measure — as a little extra, on top of what was already enough
  • made to measure — made to fit one particular person exactly

Where it comes from

Latin mēnsūra, "a measure", came from mētior, "to measure", and reached English through Old French mesure. It largely displaced the native English verb metan, which survives only in the stiff phrase "to mete out", and the old noun ġemet. The root is Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-, the measuring root.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *meh₁-

  2. Middle English

    mesure

  3. English, today

    measure

Built from

  • mētior · Latin — to measure
  • ġemet · Old English — a measure

From Middle English mesure. From Middle English mesure, from Old French mesure, from Latin mēnsūra (“a measure”), mētior (“to measure”) + -tūra. Largely displaced native metan ("to measure" whence modern mete) and ġemet (“a measure”). See also -ure.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sharper Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 2 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

measure in the wild

  • In a few, it continues as a statute measure, although not since 2010 in the UK, and not for decades in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

    Acre

  • GDP is often used to measure the economic activity of a country or region.

    Gross domestic product

  • Dividing total GDP by the population gives an idealized rough measure of GDP per capita.

    Gross domestic product

  • Depth is used for the measure of a third dimension.

    Length

  • But it was not until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that measure theory became a branch of mathematics.

    Measure (mathematics)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the ġemet family

measure

measure — used about once every 318 pages · #2,385 · point at the bar for the others

  • tape measure