metre
Syllables: me·tre/ˈmiːtə//ˈmiːtəɹ/
metre noun: 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. Also the alternative spelling of meter.
Noun (1)
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.
- Holonyms: kilometre < megametre < gigametre < terametre < petametre
- Meronyms: picometre < nanometre < micrometre < millimetre < centimetre < decimetre
- Synonyms:
- m
Noun (2)
metre (countable and uncountable, plural metres)
Verb
metre (third-person singular simple present metres, present participle metring, simple past and past participle metred)
- To put into metrical form.
Also used as
metre is also the alternative spelling of meter.
metre meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
metre in Hindi
- unit of length
- मीटर mīṭar
- rhythm or measure in verse and musical composition
- छंद chand
metre in Tamil
- unit of length
- மீட்டர் mīṭṭar
metre in Urdu
- unit of length
- میٹر mīṭar
metre in Bengali
- unit of length
- মিটার miṭar
More languagesFewer languages
- metre in Telugu
- మీటరు mīṭaru
- metre in Malayalam
- മീറ്റർ mīṟṟaṟ, വൃത്തം vr̥ttaṁ
- metre in Kannada
- ಮೀಟರು mīṭaru
- metre in Gujarati
- મીટર mīṭar
- metre in Sinhala
- මීටර් mīṭar
- metre in Tagalog
- metro, panukat
- metre in Arabic
- مِتْر mitr
- metre in Malay
- meter
- metre in Indonesian
- meter
- metre in Thai
- เมตร méet
- metre in Vietnamese
- mét, thước, thước tây
- metre in Myanmar
- မီတာ mita
Examples of metre in a sentence
- The measures of length above the metre are ten times ... greater than the metre.1797, The Monthly magazine and British register, number 3:
- A dress length of 8 metres of the best quality costs 58 francs.1873 April, The Young Englishwoman:
- The 12-metre yachts ... can be sailed efficiently with four paid hands.1928 April 15, The Observer:
- It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black mustache and ruggedly handsome features.1949 June 8, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC, Part I, Chapter I:
Synonyms of metre
Forms of metre
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | metres |
| alternative form | meter |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | metres |
| present participle | metring |
| past participle | metred |
| past | metred |
Origin of metre
From French mètre, from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure, rule, length, size, poetic metre”). Doublet of meter, metron, and mether.
From Old English, from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron, “measure, rule, length, size, poetic metre”).
Words formed from metre
- 1000 metre
- attometre
- cubic metre
- cumec
- exametre
- femtometre
- gigametre
- kilogram-metre
- linear metre
- megametre
- metre gauge
- metre-gauge
- metre-kilogramme-second
- metre-kilogram-second
- metre per second
- metre stick
- metre-tonne-second
- metre-ton-second
- metric
- metrication
- metrology
- micrometre
- myriametre
- nanometre
- newton-metre
- newton metre
- polymetre
- quettametre
- ronnametre
- square metre
- terametre
- yoctometre
- yottametre
- zeptometre
- zettametre
- centimetre
- decametre
- decimetre
- hectometre
- kilometre
- millimetre
Phrases with metre
Words that rhyme with metre
Questions about metre
- What does metre mean?
- Metre means 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.
- What is metre in Hindi?
- Metre in Hindi is मीटर (mīṭar), छंद (chand). See Metre meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use metre in a sentence?
- The measures of length above the metre are ten times ... greater than the metre.
- What part of speech is metre?
- Metre can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce metre?
- Metre is pronounced /ˈmiːtə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of metre?
- The plural of metre is metres.
Words near metre in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: metre (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-metre.ogg, en-us-metre.ogg.
Cite this entry: “metre.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/metre. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.