メーター
解説 Definition
meter は、計器やメーターという意味です。電気・水道・車などの量や状態を示す装置を指し、日本語のカタカナ語とほぼ同じ使い方をします。
A meter is a device that measures and displays an amount, rate, or condition, such as water use, electrical consumption, speed, or a taxi fare. It may record the measurement as well as show it.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
meter は「一定の基準で量を測り、数値を示す装置」と捉えます。speed meter、water meter、taxi meter のように、何を測るかを前に置くのが典型です。metric、diameter と同じく「測る・尺度」の要素につながります。長さの単位 meter も同綴りですが、ここでは針や表示、料金などを読み取る計器の語義です。
Think of a meter as a device that measures something and gives you a reading. The repeated sound and spelling connection between meter and measure can help, and words such as metric and diameter belong to the same broad historical idea of measurement. English often places the measured thing before meter: water meter, electricity meter, speed meter, and taxi meter. Picture checking a display, dial, or number rather than merely naming a unit of length. That distinction matters because meter can also mean the standard unit equal to one hundred centimeters, but the examples here all refer to a measuring instrument.
例文
The meter shows the speed.
そのメーターは速度を示しています。
Please check the water meter.
水道メーターを確認してください。
The taxi meter started when we got in.
私たちが乗ると、タクシーのメーターが動き始めました。
meter の類義語・関連語
meter の語源・成り立ち Etymology
meter はフランス語 mètre を経て、ギリシャ語 metron「尺度・測るもの」に由来します。語根 me- は「測る」で、基準に照らして量を数値化する道具だから、そのまま「メーター」という意味になります。関連語は metric、diameter。
Meter, in the sense of a measuring instrument, ultimately comes through French and Latin from Greek metron, meaning “measure.” It is related to words such as metric and diameter, all of which contain the historical idea of measuring or extent. In English, meter became a productive element in names for instruments that measure quantities. The identical spelling is also used for the metric unit of length, which developed from the same fundamental concept of a measure.
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