Skip to main content
PlainSpell

measure

meas·ure/ˈmɛʒ.ɚ/noun, verb

measure is spelled M-E-A-S-U-R-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (meas·ure). It appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, measure means “A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of measure is measures.

How many letters and syllables are in measure?

Letters7: M-E-A-S-U-R-E
Syllables2: meas·ure
In writing45 times per million words; the 2,253rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is measure?

Measure appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce measure?

  • UK /ˈmɛʒ.ə/
  • US /ˈmɛʒ.ɚ/
  • US /ˈmeɪ.ʒɚ/

Measure has 2 syllables, split meas·ure in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-measure.wav, En-us-measure.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with measure?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as measure from its last stressed vowel (/ɛʒəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of measure

  • measures plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • measuring participle, present
  • measured participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does measure mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteModeration, temperance.

  2. 2

    A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.)

    Mom's rage has no measure.

  3. 3

    An (unspecified) portion or quantity.

  4. 4

    A receptacle or vessel of a standard size, capacity etc. as used to deal out specific quantities of some substance.

    a measure of salt

  5. 5

    A standard against which something can be judged; a way of measuring it; a criterion for it.

    By what measure should we judge the performance of our teachers?

  6. 6

    Any of various standard units of capacity.

    The villagers paid a tithe of a thousand measures of corn.

  7. 7

    A unit of measurement.

  8. 8

    The size of someone or something, as ascertained by measuring. (Now chiefly in make to measure.)

verb

  1. 1

    To ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard.

    We measured the temperature with a thermometer.

  2. 2

    To be of (a certain size), to have (a certain measurement).

    The window measured two square feet.

  3. 3

    To estimate the unit size of something.

    I measure that at 10 centimetres.

  4. 4

    To judge, value, or appraise.

  5. 5

    To obtain or set apart; to mark in even increments.

  6. 6

    rareTo traverse, cross, pass along; to travel over.

  7. 7

    To adjust by a rule or standard.

  8. 8

    To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; often with.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate measure?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of measure: m, meas..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Measure in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanMaß, Mass (unspecified portion or quantity), Messung (act or result of measuring), Maßstab (standard against which something can be judged…), messen (ascertain the quantity of a unit), abmessen (obtain or set apart)
Portuguesemedida (unspecified portion or quantity), medição (act or result of measuring), indicador (standard against which something can be judged…), medir (ascertain the quantity of a unit), medidor (something to take measurements)
Spanishmedición (act or result of measuring), medida (standard against which something can be judged…), medir, mensurar (ascertain the quantity of a unit), regla (something to take measurements), compás (musical designation)
Frenchmesurer (ascertain the quantity of a unit), mesure (size ascertained by measuring)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does measure come from?

From Middle English mesure, from Old French mesure, from Latin mēnsūra (“a measure”), mētior (“to measure”, supine stem in mēns-) + -tūra. Largely displaced native Old English metan ("to measure" whence modern mete) and ġemet (“a measure”). See also -ure.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after measure