metric

¹

[ me-trik ]

adjective

1. pertaining to the meter or to the metric system.

noun

1. Often metrics. a standard for measuring or evaluating something, especially one that uses figures or statistics:

   new metrics for gauging an organization’s diversity;

   pretty good by any metric.

metric

²

[ me-trik ]

adjective

1. pertaining to distance:

   metric geometry.

2. metrical.

noun

1. Mathematics. a nonnegative real-valued function having properties analogous to those of the distance between points on a real line, as the distance between two points being independent of the order of the points, the distance between two points being zero if, and only if, the two points coincide, and the distance between two points being less than or equal to the sum of the distances from each point to an arbitrary third point.

-metric

³

1. a combining form occurring in adjectives that correspond to nouns ending in -meter ( barometric ) or -metry ( geometric ).

metric

/ ˈmɛtrɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the metre or metric system
2. maths denoting or relating to a set containing pairs of points for each of which a non-negative real number ρ( x, y ) (the distance) can be defined, satisfying specific conditions

noun

1. maths the function ρ( x, y ) satisfying the conditions of membership of such a set (a metric space )

metric

/ mĕt′rĭk /

1. Relating to the meter or the metric system.

Word History and Origins

Origin of metric¹

1860–65; < French métrique, derivative of mètre meter ¹; -ic

Origin of metric²

1750–60; < Latin metricus < Greek metrikós of, relating to measuring. See meter ², -ic

Origin of metric³

< Greek -metrikos; meter ², -metry, -ic

Example Sentences

“You are applying Western metrics to someone who is not using that metric against you,” referring to ISIS, Bolger said.

From The Daily Beast

Take the chief metric of the war in Vietnam—body counts, which ultimately did not answer whether the strategy was working.

From The Daily Beast

America sent less than 2,000 metric tons of cheese to China in 2009.

From The Daily Beast

While approximately one in every 25 attempts among adults results in death, that same metric is one in five for under-29s.

From The Daily Beast

Do you have any kind of metric for whether what you're doing is working or not?

From The Daily Beast

The British measure of energy is the foot-pound; the metric measure is the kilogrammetre.

From Project Gutenberg

Convention of May 20, 1875, regarding the unification and improvement of the metric system.

From Project Gutenberg

To appreciate its metre, one must so enter into the spirit of a poem that the metric movement is felt as a part of its expression.

From Project Gutenberg

So complex, so mysterious, is the metric expression of feeling, that no one poem can be made a standard for another.

From Project Gutenberg

It is impossible to read it in its proper spirit when not correctly rendering its metric rhythm.

From Project Gutenberg