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meter1
/mee"teuhr/, n.the fundamental unit of length in the metric system, equivalent to 39.37 U.S. inches, originally intended to be, and being very nearly, equal to one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the pole measured on a meridian: defined from 1889 to 1960 as the distance between two lines on a platinum-iridium bar (the "International Prototype Meter") preserved at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris; from 1960 to 1983 defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red radiation of krypton 86 under specified conditions; and now defined as 1/299,792,458 of the distance light travels in a vacuum in one second. Abbr.: m Also, Brit., metre.[1790-1800; < F mètre < Gk métron measure]meter2/mee"teuhr/, n.1. Music.a. the rhythmic element as measured by division into parts of equal time value.b. the unit of measurement, in terms of number of beats, adopted for a given piece of music. Cf. measure (def. 14).2. Pros.a. poetic measure; arrangement of words in regularly measured, patterned, or rhythmic lines or verses.b. a particular form of such arrangement, depending on either the kind or the number of feet constituting the verse or both rhythmic kind and number of feet (usually used in combination): pentameter; dactylic meter; iambic trimeter.[bef. 900; ME metir, metur, OE meter < L metrum poetic meter, verse < Gk métron measure; r. ME metre < MF < L as above]meter3/mee"teuhr/, n.1. an instrument for measuring, esp. one that automatically measures and records the quantity of something, as of gas, water, miles, or time, when it is activated.v.t.3. to measure by means of a meter.[1805-15; see METE1, -ER1]
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Universalium. 2010.