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“Meter” or “Metre”

For the unit of distance, meter is predominantly used in American (US) English (en-US) while metre is predominantly used in British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB). For the measurement device, meter is the spelling in all regions.

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Usage by country

Where each spelling is used

Of the 12 countries below, 12 prefer “meter” and 0 prefer “metre”. Usage levels are out of 100; the more common spelling in each country is in bold.

Usage level out of 100 (if available).
Country meter metre Preference
United States 99 1 “meter”
United Kingdom 81 19 “meter”
India 75 25 “meter”
Philippines 100 0 “meter”
Canada 68 32 “meter”
Australia 68 32 “meter”
Liberia 95 5 “meter”
Ireland 77 23 “meter”
New Zealand 71 29 “meter”
Jamaica 85 15 “meter”
Trinidad & Tobago 88 12 “meter”
Guyana 90 10 “meter”
Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“meter”

  • …exposures or milligrams per cubic meter of ambient air for inhalation
  • …his best event, the 1,000 meter race.
  • …maximum height well over one meter.
  • …frozen in ice over one meter thick in winter.
  • …herb often exceeding half a meter in height.
  • …of less than 0.1% -a meter of difference for each kilometer…
  • …Earth atmosphere onto every square meter of the planet's surface, as…
  • Commercial customers are all metered and are charged 4.31 Georgian…
  • …is safety glass, a 6 meter × 1.5 kilometer (18.5 ft…
  • …and shale of the 600 meter thick Odukpani Formation formed during…

“metre”

  • …metric units, including aune for metre, litron for litre, livre for…
  • The girls' 50 metre freestyle event in swimming at…
  • …Chalandamarz, up to half a metre in diameter.
  • …competed in the men's 100 metre backstroke at the 1968 Summer…
  • 300 metre military rifle, three positions –…
  • It grows up to 1 metre high, and is not aromatic.
  • …held in a 46,000 square metre open-air plaza named 751 D-Park,…
  • The Men's 100 metre backstroke S14 event at the…
  • …– Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
  • …about 69 individuals per square metre in suitable habitats, by 1950…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license.

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