Parameter

How to spell parameter

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce parameter

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does parameter mean?

1. nounA measurable factor or boundary that defines the limits within which something operates.

Parameter in a sentence

• The budget set a strict parameter for the whole project.

• Each parameter in the spreadsheet can be adjusted independently.

Where does parameter come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the modern Latin parametrum, coined by mathematicians from two Greek elements: para, meaning 'beside' or 'alongside', and metron, meaning 'a measure'. It first appeared in the 1650s as a technical term in geometry, describing a fixed quantity that defined the proportions of a curve such as a conic section. From that strict mathematical sense it gradually widened, especially in the twentieth century, into the looser everyday meaning of a boundary, limit, or defining condition. The metron half is the same Greek root that gives us 'thermometer' and 'diameter', so spelling it with the same -meter ending as those words is a reliable memory hook. The chief spelling trap is the unstressed middle vowels, where para-METer can tempt writers toward 'perameter' or 'parameter' confusion with 'perimeter', a different word entirely.

How the word is built

• para- (beside, alongside)
• meter (from Greek metron: measure)