Marine Glossary

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meter

1. The base unit of length (approximately 3.28 feet) in the International system of Units, equal to 1,650, 763.73 wavelengths in vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the levels 2p10 and 5d5 of the krypton-86 atom. It is equal to 39.37008 inches, approximately, or approximately one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North or South Pole.

The old international prototype of the meter is still kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures under the conditions specified in 1889.

2. A device for measuring, and usually indicating, some quantity.

1 millimeter = 1,000 micrometers (microns)
1 centimeter = 10 millimeters
1 meter = 100 centimeters
1 kilometer = 1,000 meters

See Units Converter and notes in RES-11 on conversions.