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meter

meter abbr. m, fundamental unit of length in the metric system . The meter was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and either pole; however, the original survey was inaccurate and the meter was later defined simply as the distance between two scratches on a bar made of a platinum-iridium alloy and kept at Sevres, France, near Paris. More recently, it has been defined as the distance light travels through a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. The meter is now the legal standard of length for most of the world, other standards, such as the yard, being defined in terms of the meter.

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meter

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

meter1 measurer. XIV. f. METE + -ER1.

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T. F. HOAD. "meter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "meter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (November 12, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-meter.html

T. F. HOAD. "meter." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved November 12, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-meter.html

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meter

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Â© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

meter Instrument that measures a particular quantity. For example, a gas meter measures the amount of gas that flows in a certain time, and a voltmeter measures the voltage between two points in an electrical circuit.

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