types:
denier
a unit of measurement for the fineness of silk or nylon or rayon
diopter,
dioptre
a unit of measurement of the refractive power of a lens which is equal to the reciprocal of the focal length measured in meters; used by oculists
carat,
karat,
kt
the unit of measurement for the proportion of gold in an alloy; 18-karat gold is 75% gold; 24-karat gold is pure gold
force unit
a unit of measurement of physical force
metric,
metric unit
a decimal unit of measurement of the metric system (based on meters and kilograms and seconds)
miles per gallon
the distance traveled in a vehicle powered by one gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel
pain unit
a unit measuring the intensity of pain
point
the unit of counting in scoring a game or contest
bit
a unit of measurement of information (from binary + digit); the amount of information in a system having two equiprobable states
electrostatic unit
any of various units of electricity based on forces of interaction between electric charges
cord
a unit of amount of wood cut for burning; 128 cubic feet
advantage
(tennis) first point scored after deuce
set point
(tennis) the final point needed to win a set in tennis
match point
(tennis) the final point needed to win a match (especially in tennis)
sabin
a unit of acoustic absorption equivalent to the absorption by a square foot of a surface that absorbs all incident sound
mil
an angular unit used in artillery; equal to 1/6400 of a complete revolution
microradian
a unit of angular distance equal to one thousandth of a milliradian
milliradian
a unit of angular distance equal to one thousandth of a radian
rad,
radian
the unit of plane angle adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites; equal to the angle at the center of a circle subtended by an arc equal in length to the radius (approximately 57.295 degrees)
oxtant
a unit of angular distance equal to half a quadrant
sextant
a unit of angular distance equal to 60 degrees
sr,
steradian
the unit of solid angle adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
quarter section
a land unit equal to a quarter of a section (160 acres) and measuring 1/2 mile on a side
acre
a unit of area (4840 square yards) used in English-speaking countries
ar,
are
a unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters
hectare
(abbreviated `ha') a unit of surface area equal to 100 ares (or 10,000 square meters)
arpent
a former French unit of area; equal approximately to an acre
b,
barn
(physics) a unit of nuclear cross section; the effective circular area that one particle presents to another as a target for an encounter
dessiatine
a former Russian unit of area equal to 2.7 acres
morgen
a South African unit of measure equal to about 2 acres
cran
a capacity unit used for measuring fresh herring
field capacity
the maximum amount of water that a particular soil can hold
homer,
kor
an ancient Hebrew unit of capacity equal to 10 baths or 10 ephahs
hin
ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measure = 1.5 gallons
fathom,
fthm
(mining) a unit of volume (equal to 6 cubic feet) used in measuring bodies of ore
acre-foot
the volume of water that would cover 1 acre to a depth of 1 foot; 43,560 cubic feet or 1233.5 cubic meters
board foot
the volume of a piece of wood 1 foot square and 1 inch thick
standard
a board measure = 1980 board feet
last
a unit of capacity for grain equal to 80 bushels
check bit,
parity,
parity bit
(computer science) a bit that is used in an error detection procedure in which a 0 or 1 is added to each group of bits so that it will have either an odd number of 1's or an even number of 1's; e.g., if the parity is odd then any group of bits that arrives with an even number of 1's must contain an error
byte
a sequence of 8 bits (enough to represent one character of alphanumeric data) processed as a single unit of information
sector
the minimum track length that can be assigned to store information; unless otherwise specified a sector of data consists of 512 bytes
block
(computer science) a sector or group of sectors that function as the smallest data unit permitted
allocation unit
a group of sectors on a magnetic disk that can be reserved for the use of a particular file
partition
(computer science) the part of a hard disk that is dedicated to a particular operating system or application and accessed as a single unit
word
a word is a string of bits stored in computer memory
M,
MB,
megabyte
a unit of information equal to 1000 kilobytes or 10^6 (1,000,000) bytes
Mb,
Mbit,
megabit
a unit of information equal to 1000 kilobits or 10^6 (1,000,000) bits
Mibit,
mebibit
a unit of information equal to 1024 kibibits or 2^20 (1,048,576) bits
G,
GB,
gigabyte
a unit of information equal to 1000 megabytes or 10^9 (1,000,000,000) bytes
Gb,
Gbit,
gigabit
a unit of information equal to 1000 megabits or 10^9 (1,000,000,000) bits
Gibit,
gibibit
a unit of information equal to 1024 mebibits or 2^30 (1,073,741,824) bits
TB,
TiB,
tebibyte,
terabyte
a unit of information equal to 1024 gibibytes or 2^40 (1,099,511,627,776) bytes
TB,
terabyte
a unit of information equal to 1000 gigabytes or 10^12 (1,000,000,000,000) bytes
Tb,
Tbit,
terabit
a unit of information equal to 1000 gigabits or 10^12 (1,000,000,000,000) bits
Tibit,
tebibit
a unit of information equal to 1024 gibibits or 2^40 (1,099,511,627,776) bits
PB,
petabyte
a unit of information equal to 1000 terabytes or 10^15 bytes
Pb,
Pbit,
petabit
a unit of information equal to 1000 terabits or 10^15 bits
Pibit,
pebibit
a unit of information equal to 1024 tebibits or 2^50 bits
EB,
exabyte
a unit of information equal to 1000 petabytes or 10^18 bytes
Eb,
Ebit,
exabit
a unit of information equal to 1000 petabits or 10^18 bits
Eibit,
exbibit
a unit of information equal to 1024 pebibits or 2^60 bits
ZB,
zettabyte
a unit of information equal to 1000 exabytes or 10^21 bytes
Zb,
Zbit,
zettabit
a unit of information equal to 1000 exabits or 10^21 bits
Zibit,
zebibit
a unit of information equal to 1024 exbibits or 2^70 bits
YB,
yottabyte
a unit of information equal to 1000 zettabytes or 10^24 bytes
Yb,
Ybit,
yottabit
a unit of information equal to 1000 zettabits or 10^24 bits
Yibit,
yobibit
a unit of information equal to 1024 zebibits or 2^80 bits
capacitance unit
a measure of the capacity of a circuit component to store charge
charge unit,
quantity unit
a measure of the quantity of electricity (determined by the amount of an electric current and the time for which it flows)
conductance unit
a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electrical charge
current unit
a measure of the amount of electric charge flowing past a circuit point at a specific time
inductance unit
a measure of the property of an electric circuit by which an electromotive force is induced in it
light unit
a measure of the visible electromagnetic radiation
potential unit
a measure of the potential energy of a unit charge at a given point in a circuit relative to a reference point (ground)
kiloton
a measure of explosive power (of an atomic weapon) equal to that of 1000 tons of TNT
megaton
a measure of explosive power (of an atomic weapon) equal to that of one million tons of TNT
dyne
a unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 cm/sec/sec to a mass of 1 gram
N,
newton
a unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 m/sec/sec to a mass of 1 kilogram; equal to 100,000 dynes
sthene
a unit of force equal to 1000 newtons
pdl,
poundal
a unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 foot/sec/sec to a mass of 1 pound; equal to 0.1382 newtons
lbf.,
pound
a nontechnical unit of force equal to the mass of 1 pound with an acceleration of free fall equal to 32 feet/sec/sec
pounder
(used only in combination) something weighing a given number of pounds
g,
g-force,
gee
a unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity; used to indicate the force to which a body is subjected when it is accelerated
gal
a unit of gravitational acceleration equal to one centimeter per second per second (named after Galileo)
in,
inch
a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot
foot,
ft
a linear unit of length equal to 12 inches or a third of a yard
footer
(used only in combinations) the height or length of something in feet
pace,
yard
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
yarder
(used only in combinations) the height or length of something in yards
furlong
a unit of length equal to 220 yards
miler
(used only in combinations) the length of something in miles
league
an obsolete unit of distance of variable length (usually 3 miles)
ligne
a linear unit (1/40 inch) used to measure diameter of buttons
nail
a former unit of length for cloth equal to 1/16 of a yard
archine
a Russian unit of length (71 cm)
coss,
kos
(in India) a unit of length having different values in different localities
vara
a Spanish unit of length (about a yard) having different values in different localities
verst
a Russian unit of length (1.067 km)
cubit
an ancient unit of length based on the length of the forearm
fistmele
about seven inches; the breadth of a fist with the thumb stuck out (used especially in archery to give the correct distance of the string from the bow)
head
the length or height based on the size of a human or animal head
lea
a unit of length of thread or yarn
li
Chinese distance measure; approximately 0.5 kilometers
link
a unit of length equal to 1/100 of a chain
mesh
the number of openings per linear inch of a screen; measures size of particles
mil
a unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch; used to specify thickness (e.g., of sheets or wire)
Roman mile,
mile
an ancient Roman unit of length equivalent to 1620 yards
Roman pace
an ancient Roman unit of length (4.85 English feet) measured as the distance from the heel of one foot to the heel of the same foot when next it touches the ground
geometric pace
a modern version of the Roman pace now taken to be 5 feet
military pace
the length of a single step in marching (taken to be 30 inches for quick time or 36 inches for double time)
palm
a linear unit based on the length or width of the human hand
span
a unit of length based on the width of the expanded human hand (usually taken as 9 inches)
survey mile
a U.S. unit of measure equal to 1609.347 meters; derived from the use of 39.37 inches as the conversion for one meter
fathom,
fthm
a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth
dollar
the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents
euro
the basic monetary unit of most members of the European Union (introduced in 1999); in 2002 twelve European nations (Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Austria, Finland) adopted the euro as their basic unit of money and abandoned their traditional currencies
franc
the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 centimes
dol
a unit of pain intensity
Pa,
pascal
a unit of pressure equal to one newton per square meter
millibar
a unit of atmospheric pressure equal to one thousandth of a bar
bar
(meteorology) a unit of pressure equal to a million dynes per square centimeter
point
a linear unit used to measure the size of type; approximately 1/72 inch
en,
nut
half the width of an em
cicero
a linear unit of the size of type slightly larger than an em
agate line,
line
space for one line of print (one column wide and 1/14 inch deep) used to measure advertising
milline
an advertising measure; one agate line appearing in one million copies of a publication
B,
Bel
a logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels
dB,
decibel
a logarithmic unit of sound intensity; 10 times the logarithm of the ratio of the sound intensity to some reference intensity
sone
a unit of perceived loudness equal to the loudness of a 1000-hertz tone at 40 dB above threshold
phon
a unit of subjective loudness
Erlang
a unit of traffic intensity in a telephone system
degree
a unit of temperature on a specified scale
millidegree
a unit of temperature equal to one-thousandth of a degree
K,
kelvin
the basic unit of thermodynamic temperature adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
Rankine
a unit of temperature on the Rankine scale
degree day
a unit used in estimating fuel requirements for heating a building
poise
a cgs unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter; the viscosity of a fluid in which a force of one dyne per square centimeter maintains a velocity of 1 centimeter per second
troy unit
any of the unit of the troy system of weights
arroba
a unit of weight used in some Spanish speaking countries
cattie,
catty
any of various units of weight used in southeastern Asia (especially a Chinese measure equal to 500 grams)
crith
the weight of a liter of hydrogen (at 0 centigrade and 760 millimeters pressure)
frail
the weight of a frail (basket) full of raisins or figs; between 50 and 75 pounds
last
a unit of weight equal to 4,000 pounds
maund
a unit of weight used in Asia; has different values in different countries
obolus
a Greek unit of weight equal to one tenth of a gram
oka
a Turkish unit of weight equal to about 2.75 pounds
picul
a unit of weight used in some parts of Asia; approximately equal to 133 pounds (the load a grown man can carry)
pood
a Russian unit of weight equal to approximately 36 pounds
rotl
a unit of weight used in some Moslem countries near the Mediterranean; varies between one and five pounds
slug
a unit of mass equal to the mass that accelerates at 1 foot/sec/sec when acted upon by a force of 1 pound; approximately 14.5939 kilograms
tael
a unit of weight used in east Asia approximately equal to 1.3 ounces
tod
a unit of weight for wool equal to about 28 pounds
welterweight
a weight of 28 pounds; sometimes imposed as a handicap in a horse race (such as a steeplechase)
pound
a unit of apothecary weight equal to 12 ounces troy
erg
a cgs unit of work or energy; the work done by a force of one dyne acting over a distance of one centimeter
eV,
electron volt
a unit of energy equal to the work done by an electron accelerated through a potential difference of 1 volt
J,
joule,
watt second
a unit of electrical energy equal to the work done when a current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second
calorie,
gram calorie,
small calorie
unit of heat defined as the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade at atmospheric pressure
B.Th.U.,
BTU,
British thermal unit
a unit of heat equal to the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at one atmosphere pressure; equivalent to 251.997 calories
therm
a unit of heat equal to 100,000 British thermal units
watt-hour
a unit of energy equal to the power of one watt operating for one hour
foot-pound
a unit of work equal to a force of one pound moving through a distance of one foot
foot-poundal
a unit of work equal to a force of one poundal moving through a distance of one foot
horsepower-hour
a unit of work equal to the work done by one horsepower in one hour
kilogram-meter
a unit of work equal to the work done by a one kilogram force operating through a distance of one meter