commensurate
Americanadjective
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corresponding in amount, magnitude, or degree.
Your paycheck should be commensurate with the amount of time worked.
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proportionate; adequate.
a solution commensurate to the seriousness of the problem.
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having the same measure; of equal extent or duration.
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having a common measure or divisor; commensurable.
adjective
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having the same extent or duration
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corresponding in degree, amount, or size; proportionate
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able to be measured by a common standard; commensurable
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of commensurate
1635–45; < Late Latin commēnsūrātus, equivalent to Latin com- com- + mēnsūrātus (past participle of mēnsūrāre to measure ); see -ate 1
Explanation
The word commensurate has to do with things that are similar in size and therefore appropriate. Many people think the death penalty is a commensurate punishment for murder. In other words, the penalty fits the crime. When things are commensurate, they're fair, appropriate, and the right size. If you got a ticket for jaywalking, you shouldn't get ten years in prison — that penalty is not commensurate with the crime. The word commensurate is usually followed by with or to; one thing is commensurate with or to another.
Vocabulary lists containing commensurate
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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The Great Gatsby
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For my view of the Infinite is this: that although beyond the Finite, or, as one might say, the Commensurate, there may or may not be a---- Just a moment.
From If I May by Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander)
Whose awe and wonder are in touch With Nature,—speaking rapture to Your soul,—yet leaving in your reach No human word of thought or speech Commensurate with the thing you view.
From Poems by Cawein, Madison Julius
Commensurate with the happiness that had been hers during those ten minutes came now her remorse.
From Across the Years by Porter, Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman)
Commensurate is the more precise and learned word, signifying that which exactly measures the matter in question.
From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
