different between metre vs litre

English

Alternative forms

• meter

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?mi?t?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?mi?t??/, [?mi???]
• Hyphenation: me?tre
• Rhymes: -i?t?(r)

Etymology 1

From French mètre, from Ancient Greek ?????? (métron, “measure, rule, length, size, poetic metre”). Doublet of metron.

Noun

metre (plural metres)

1. The basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Système International d'Unités), equal to the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 seconds. The metre is equal to 39+⁴⁷?₁₂₇ (approximately 39.37) imperial inches.
   • 1797, The Monthly magazine and British register, No. 3

     The measures of length above the metre are ten times ... greater than the metre.

   • 1873, The Young Englishwoman, April

     A dress length of 8 metres of the best quality costs 58 francs.

   • 1928, The Observer, April 15

     The 12-metre yachts ... can be sailed efficiently with four paid hands.

Usage notes

• This, rather than meter, is the spelling adopted by both the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and the International Organization for Standardization in their English language texts. However the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, in accordance with the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual, has chosen to use meter.

Synonyms

• m

Derived terms

(Metric scale)

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: mita
• ? Burmese: ???? (mita)
• ? Chinese: ?? (m?t?, m?tú)
• ? Japanese: ???? (m?t?)
• ? Korean: ?? (miteo) (South Korea), ?? (meteo) (North Korea, China)
• ? Maori: mita
• ? Swahili: mita

Translations

See also

• Appendix on SI Units

References

“metre” in the Collins English Dictionary

Further reading

• SI prefixes
• International Bureau of Weights and Measures

Verb

metre (third-person singular simple present metres, present participle metring, simple past and past participle metred)

1. (Britain, rare) Alternative spelling of meter

Usage notes

The standard spelling of the verb meaning to measure is meter throughout the English-speaking world. The use of the spelling metre for this sense (outside music and poetry) is possibly a misspelling.

Etymology 2

From Old English, from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek See #Etymology 1

Noun

metre (plural metres) (Britain, Canada)

1. The rhythm or measure in verse and musical composition.

Translations

Verb

metre (third-person singular simple present metres, present participle metring, simple past and past participle metred)

1. (poetry, music) To put into metrical form.

See also

• metronome
• metric
• Wikipedia article: metre (poetry)

Anagrams

• -meter, -treme, Emert, meter, remet, retem

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?m?.t??/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?m?.t??/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?me.t?e/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French mètre.

Noun

metre m (plural metres)

1. metre, meter (unit of measure, 100 cm)

Etymology 2

From Old Occitan metre, from Latin mittere, present active infinitive of mitt?. Compare Occitan metre, French mettre, Spanish meter.

Verb

metre (first-person singular present meto, past participle mes)

1. to put, to place

   Synonym: posar

2. to set

Conjugation

Related terms

Further reading

• “metre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “metre” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “metre” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “metre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan metre, from Latin mittere, present active infinitive of mitt?. Attested from the 12th century.

Pronunciation

Verb

metre

1. (transitive) to put, to place

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• mesa

References

Old French

Etymology

From Latin mittere, present active infinitive of mitt?.

Verb

metre

1. to put, to place

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Descendants

• Middle French: mettre, mectre, metre
  • French: mettre
• Norman: maette (Guernsey), mettre (Jersey)

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French mètre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?t??/

Noun

metre (definite accusative metreyi, plural metreler)

1. metre, meter (unit of measure, 100 cm)
2. rule, folding rule

English

Alternative forms

• liter (American)

Etymology

From French litre, from Medieval Latin litra, from Ancient Greek ????? (lítra, “a Sicilian coin, a measure of weight”). Related to Latin libra. Doublet of rottol.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?li?.t?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?li.t?/, [?li.??]
  • Homophone: leader
• Rhymes: -i?t?(?)
• Hyphenation: li?tre

Noun

litre (plural litres) (chiefly British spelling, Canadian spelling, Irish, South African, Australian / NZ spelling, BIPM spelling)

1. The metric unit of fluid measure, equal to one cubic decimetre. Symbols: l, L, ?

   You should be able to fill four cups with one litre of water.

2. (informal) A measure of volume equivalent to a litre.

Usage notes

• The litre is not an SI unit but is accepted for use with SI units. The official SI symbols are the capital roman "L" or lower-case roman "l". The upper-case "L" is often used in English-speaking countries to avoid confusion with the number "1". The script symbol ?, while not officially sanctioned, was sometimes used in non-technical contexts to prevent the lower-case roman l from being confused with 1, the number one.
• This, rather than liter, is the spelling adopted by both the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and the International Organization for Standardization in their English language texts. However the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, in accordance with the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual, has chosen to use liter.

Descendants

• ? Hindi: ???? (l??ar)

Translations

Further reading

• litre on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• liter, relit, tiler, triel

Catalan

Etymology

From French litre.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /?li.t??/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?li.t?e/

Noun

litre m (plural litres)

1. litre

Further reading

• “litre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “litre” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “litre” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “litre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin litra, from Ancient Greek ????? (lítra, “a Sicilian coin, a measure of weight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lit?/

Noun

litre m (plural litres)

1. litre

Related terms

• litron

Descendants

Further reading

• “litre” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• relit

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l??it????/

Noun

litre f

1. (archaic) Alternative form of litreach: genitive singular of litir
2. (archaic) Alternative form of litreacha: nominative plural of litir

References

• "litre" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from French litre.

Noun

litre m (plural litres)

1. (Jersey) litre