# metre
## English
### Alternative forms

* meter

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈmiːtə/
** Audio (UK):(file)
* (US) IPA: /ˈmiːtəɹ/, [ˈmiːɾɚ]
** Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: me‧tre
* Rhymes: -iːtə(ɹ)

### Etymology 1

From French mètre, from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure, rule, length, size, poetic metre”). Doublet of meter, metron, and mether.

#### Noun

metre (plural metres)
* The basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Système International d'Unités), equal to the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 seconds. The metre is equal to 39+$^{47}$⁄$_{127}$ (approximately 39.37) imperial inches.
    Holonym: kilometre
    Meronyms: picometre < nanometre < micrometre < millimetre < centimetre < decimetre
** 1797, The Monthly magazine and British register, number 3:The measures of length above the metre are ten times ... greater than the metre.
** 1873 April, The Young Englishwoman:A dress length of 8 metres of the best quality costs 58 francs.
** 1928 April 15, The Observer:The 12-metre yachts ... can be sailed efficiently with four paid hands.

##### Usage notes

* The spelling metre is used by both the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and the International Organization for Standardization in their English-language texts, and is used in all English-speaking countries other than the US. The spelling used in the US is meter—for instance, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology and the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual use meter.

##### Synonyms

* m

##### Derived terms

* 1,000-metre
* 1000 metre
* 1000-metre
* cubic metre
* kilogram-metre
* linear metre
* metre gauge
* metre-gauge
* metre-kilogramme-second
* metre-kilogram-second
* metre per second
* metre stick
* metre-tonne-second
* metre-ton-second
* metric
* metrication
* metrology
* newton metre
* square metre
(Metric scale)
* centimetre
* decametre
* decimetre
* hectometre
* kilometre
* millimetre

##### Descendants

* Tok Pisin: mita
* → Burmese: မီတာ (mita)
* → Chinese: 米突 (mǐtū, mǐtú)
* → Japanese: メーター (mētā)
* → Korean: 미터 (miteo) (South Korea), 메터 (meteo) (North Korea, China)
* → Maori: mita
* → Sinhalese: මීටර් (mīṭar)
* → Swahili: mita
* → Yoruba: mítà

##### See also

* Appendix on SI Units

##### References

“metre”, in Collins English Dictionary.

##### Further reading

* SI prefixes
* International Bureau of Weights and Measures

#### Verb

metre (third-person singular simple present metres, present participle metring, simple past and past participle metred)
* (UK, rare) Alternative spelling of meter

##### Usage notes

The standard spelling of the verb meaning to measure is meter throughout the English-speaking world. The use of the spelling metre for this sense (outside music and poetry) is possibly a misspelling.

### Etymology 2

From Old English, from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure, rule, length, size, poetic metre”).

#### Noun

metre (countable and uncountable, plural metres)
* (UK, Canada) The rhythm or measure in language (especially verse) and musical composition.
    Hyponym: musical time

##### Translations
#### Verb

metre (third-person singular simple present metres, present participle metring, simple past and past participle metred)
* (poetry, music) To put into metrical form.

##### See also

* metronome
* metric
* Wikipedia article: metre (poetry)

### Anagrams

* -meter, -treme, Emert, meter, remet, retem

## Catalan
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from French mètre.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈmɛ.tɾə]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈme.tɾə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈme.tɾe]

#### Noun

metre m (plural metres)
* metre/meter (unit of measure, 100 cm)
* (poetry, music) metre/meter (the rhythm of a song or poem)

##### Derived terms

* metratge

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Catalan metre, from Latin mittere. Compare Occitan metre, French mettre, Spanish meter.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [ˈmɛ.tɾə]
* IPA: (Balearic) [ˈmə.tɾə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈme.tɾe]

#### Verb

metre (first-person singular present meto, first-person singular preterite metí, past participle mes); root stress: (Central) /ɛ/; (Valencia) /e/; (Balearic) /ə/
* (transitive, archaic) to put, to place
    Synonym: posar
* (transitive, archaic) to set

##### Related terms

* cometre
* entremetre
* malmetre
* mesa
* missa
* missatge
* missió
* prometre

### Further reading

* “metre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “metre”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “metre” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “metre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Franco-Provençal
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin mittere.

### Verb

metre (ORB, broad)
* to put

### References

* mettre in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
* metre in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Old Occitan metre, from Latin mittere. Attested from the 12th century.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (Béarn):(file)

### Verb

metre
* (transitive) to put, to place

#### Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

#### Derived terms

* mesa

### References

* ↑ Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 376.

## Old French
### Etymology

From Latin mittere.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmetɾə/

### Verb

metre
* to put, to place
** 1260–1267, Brunetto Latini, “Cist premiers livres parole de la naissance de toutes choses [This first book talks about the birth of all things]” (chapter 1), Livre I - Premiere partie, in Livres dou Tresor [Book of Treasures]; republished as Polycarpe Chabaille, compiler, Li livres dou tresor par Brunetto Latini‎, Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1863, page 1:si come li sires qui vuet en petit leu amasser choses de grandisme vaillance […] por acroistre son pooir […] i met il les plus chieres choses et les plus precieux joiaus que il puet, selonc sa bone entencion, tout autressi est li cors de cest livre compilez de sapienceJust like the lord, who wishes to accumulate very valuable things in a tiny place […] in order to increase his power, […] puts there—according to his good intention—the dearest things and the most precious jewels he can, so the body of this book is filled with knowledge

#### Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

#### Descendants

* Middle French: mettre, mectre, metre
** French: mettre
* Norman: maette (Guernsey), mettre (Jersey)

## Turkish
### Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish متره (metre), from French mètre, from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmetɾe/
* Hyphenation: met‧re

### Noun

metre (definite accusative metreyi, plural metreler)
* metre, meter (unit of measure, 100 cm)
* rule, folding rule

#### Declension

singular
plural
nominative
metre
metreler
definite accusative
metreyi
metreleri
dative
metreye
metrelere
locative
metrede
metrelerde
ablative
metreden
metrelerden
genitive
metrenin
metrelerin
Possessive forms
nominative
singular
plural
1st singular
metrem
metrelerim
2nd singular
metren
metrelerin
3rd singular
metresi
metreleri
1st plural
metremiz
metrelerimiz
2nd plural
metreniz
metreleriniz
3rd plural
metreleri
metreleri
definite accusative
singular
plural
1st singular
metremi
metrelerimi
2nd singular
metreni
metrelerini
3rd singular
metresini
metrelerini
1st plural
metremizi
metrelerimizi
2nd plural
metrenizi
metrelerinizi
3rd plural
metrelerini
metrelerini
dative
singular
plural
1st singular
metreme
metrelerime
2nd singular
metrene
metrelerine
3rd singular
metresine
metrelerine
1st plural
metremize
metrelerimize
2nd plural
metrenize
metrelerinize
3rd plural
metrelerine
metrelerine
locative
singular
plural
1st singular
metremde
metrelerimde
2nd singular
metrende
metrelerinde
3rd singular
metresinde
metrelerinde
1st plural
metremizde
metrelerimizde
2nd plural
metrenizde
metrelerinizde
3rd plural
metrelerinde
metrelerinde
ablative
singular
plural
1st singular
metremden
metrelerimden
2nd singular
metrenden
metrelerinden
3rd singular
metresinden
metrelerinden
1st plural
metremizden
metrelerimizden
2nd plural
metrenizden
metrelerinizden
3rd plural
metrelerinden
metrelerinden
genitive
singular
plural
1st singular
metremin
metrelerimin
2nd singular
metrenin
metrelerinin
3rd singular
metresinin
metrelerinin
1st plural
metremizin
metrelerimizin
2nd plural
metrenizin
metrelerinizin
3rd plural
metrelerinin
metrelerinin
Predicative forms
singular
plural
1st singular
metreyim
metrelerim
2nd singular
metresin
metrelersin
3rd singular
metre metredir
metreler metrelerdir
1st plural
metreyiz
metreleriz
2nd plural
metresiniz
metrelersiniz
3rd plural
metreler
metrelerdir :

### Further reading

* “metre”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu