Measure

How to spell measure

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce measure

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does measure mean?

1. verbTo determine the size, quantity, or degree of something, or a quantity or step taken to achieve a result.

Measure in a sentence

• Could you measure the table for me?

• You can't measure kindness in numbers.

Where does measure come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word travels into English from the Latin mensura, meaning 'a measuring' or 'the result of measuring', which was formed on the verb metiri, 'to measure out'. Latin passed it to Old French as mesure, and English adopted it during the 1200s, first as a noun for size, quantity, or extent and soon afterwards as a verb. The same metiri root quietly survives in relatives like 'dimension', 'immense' (literally 'not measurable'), and 'commensurate'. The spelling trap is the buried 's' pronounced as a soft 'zh' and the unstressed '-ure' ending that sounds like a plain '-er'; writers who spell by ear are tempted toward 'mesure' or 'measur', forgetting both the silent-looking 'a' and the final 'e'. Holding on to the French 'mesure' shape helps explain why the 'ea' and the closing '-ure' are there at all.

How the word is built

• measur- (from Latin mensura: a measuring, from metiri 'to measure')
• -e