Metres
| Metre | |
|---|---|
| Unit system | metric |
| Unit of | length |
| Symbol | m |
| 1 m in ... | ... is equal to ... |
| SI units |
1000 mm 1×10−3 km |
| imperial/US units |
1.0936 yd 3.2808 ft 39.370 in |
| nautical units | 0.00053996 nmi |
The metre, or meter (American spelling), (from the Greek noun μέτρον, "measure") is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). The SI unit symbol is m. The metre is defined as the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 seconds.
The metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1799, it was redefined in terms of a prototype metre bar (the actual bar used was changed in 1889). In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. In 1983, the current definition was adopted.
The imperial inch is defined as 0.0254 metres (2.54 centimetres or 25.4 millimetres). One metre is about 3 3⁄8 inches longer than a yard, i.e. about 39 3⁄8 inches.
Metre is the standard spelling of the metric unit for length in nearly all English-speaking nations except the United States and the Philippines, which use meter.
Measuring devices (such as ammeter, speedometer) are spelled "-meter" in all variants of English. The suffix "-meter" has the same Greek origin as the unit of length.
The etymological roots of metre can be traced to the Greek verb μετρέω (metreo) (to measure, count or compare) and noun μέτρον (metron) (a measure), which were used for physical measurement, for poetic metre and by extension for moderation or avoiding extremism (as in "be measured in your response"). This range of uses is also found in Latin (metior, mensura), French (mètre, mesure), English and other languages. The motto ΜΕΤΡΩ ΧΡΩ (metro chro) in the seal of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), which was a saying of the Greek statesman and philosopher Pittacus of Mytilene and may be translated as "Use measure!", thus calls for both measurement and moderation.
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