Measurement

How to spell measurement

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce measurement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does measurement mean?

1. nounThe size, length, quantity, or extent of something as found by measuring, or the act of finding it.

Measurement in a sentence

• The tailor took a careful measurement of his shoulders before cutting the cloth.

• Each measurement on the blueprint was given in millimetres.

Where does measurement come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the verb and noun measure, which English took from the Old French mesure during the 1200s and 1300s. That French form descended from the Latin mensura, meaning 'a measuring' or 'an amount measured', which was itself formed from the verb metiri, 'to measure'. The same Latin root quietly survives in relatives such as dimension and immense (literally 'not measurable'). The ending -ment was added in English to turn the act of measuring into the noun for its result. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the sound is plain, but the letters run measure plus ment, so the silent-looking '-eas-' and the buried 'u' both have to be remembered.

How the word is built

• measure (from Latin mensura: a measuring)
• -ment (noun suffix forming the result of an action)