Metric

How to spell metric

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce metric

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does metric mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the decimal system of measurement based on the metre and the gram.
2. nounA standard or unit of measurement used to assess or compare performance.

Metric in a sentence

• adjective

  The recipe lists every ingredient in metric units.

• noun

  The team tracks customer retention as its key metric.

• adjective

  Most countries switched to the metric system decades ago.

• noun

  Revenue alone is a misleading metric for this project.

Where does metric come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the Greek metron, meaning 'measure', the same root that gives us 'metre' and 'geometry'. It passed into Latin as metricus and then into French as metrique before reaching English. In its earliest English use it described matters of poetic measure, the rhythm and metre of verse. With the rise of the decimal measuring system devised in revolutionary France in the 1790s, 'metric' came to describe that system of weights and measures based on the metre and the gram. In modern business and technology the noun sense, a standard of measurement used to judge performance, has become extremely common. Because the root is 'measure', it helps to remember the single 't' and the 'metr' spelling that it shares with 'metre' and 'meter'.

How the word is built

• metr- (from Greek metron: measure)
• -ic (adjective/noun suffix)