benchmark

English

Alternative forms

• bench mark

Etymology

From bench +‎ mark. Originally (attested circa 1842) a mark cut into a stone by land surveyors to secure a "bench" (from 19th century land surveying jargon, meaning a type of bracket), to mount measuring equipment. Figurative sense attested circa 1884.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛn(t)ʃmɑːk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bench‧mark

Noun

benchmark (plural benchmarks)

1. A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.

   Near-synonym: criterion

   • 2013 September 20, Marina Hyde, The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Is the pope Catholic? Forgive the posing of a question that is usually rhetorical, the absolute benchmark of certainty, and traditionally regarded as even more settled than the one pertaining to the lavatorial arrangements of bears.

   • 2024 November 8, Luz Pena, “California's gas prices could have major increase with passing of new fuel standards”, in ABC7 News‎^[2]:

     In a press release, CARB expanded on their decision. "The LCFS reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by setting a declining carbon intensity target for transportation fuels used in California; producers that don't meet established benchmarks buy credits from those that do. This system has generated $4 billion in annual private sector investment toward a cleaner transportation sector."

2. A surveyor's mark made on some stationary object and shown on a map; used as a reference point.

   Near-synonym: datum

3. (computing) A computer program that is executed to assess the performance of the runtime environment.

Derived terms

• non-benchmark

 

Translations

standard

• Albanian: etapë (sq)
• Bulgarian: бенчмарк m (benčmark)
• Dutch: ijkpunt (nl) n, maatstaf (nl)
• Finnish: vertailukohta (fi), mittari (fi)
• French: critère (fr) m, aune (fr) f, étalon (fr) m
• German: Maßstab (de) m, Höhenfestpunkt m, Kriterium (de) n
• Hungarian: etalon (hu), mérce (hu)
• Italian: riferimento (it) m, termine di paragone (it) m, paragone (it) m, modello (it) m, paradigma (it) m
• Latvian: etalons (lv) m, etalons (lv) m
• Portuguese: padrão (pt)
• Russian: крите́рий (ru) m (kritérij), мери́ло (ru) n (merílo), станда́рт (ru) m (standárt), показа́тель (ru) (pokazátelʹ)
• Spanish: cota de referencia f, estandar de comparación m, acotación referencial f, marca comparativa f
• Swedish: måttstock (sv) c, riktmärke n
• Turkish: mihenk taşı (tr)

surveyor's mark

• Bulgarian: ре́пер m (réper)
• Czech: nivelační bod m
• Finnish: kiintopiste
• French: point de référence m, repère (fr) m
• Hungarian: szintjel (hu)
• Italian: punto di riferimento m
• Polish: punkt odniesienia m, reper (pl) m
• Portuguese: ponto de referência (pt)
• Romanian: punct de reper (ro) n, reper (ro) n
• Russian: репер (ru) (reper)
• Spanish: marca topográfica f, punto de referencia m, cota (es) f, acotación (es) f
• Swedish: fixpunkt (sv)

computing: program executed to assess performance

• Bulgarian: бенчмарк m (benčmark)
• Esperanto: etalono
• Finnish: suorituskykytesti
• French: banc d’essai (fr) m
• Polish: test wydajności m

Verb

benchmark (third-person singular simple present benchmarks, present participle benchmarking, simple past and past participle benchmarked)

1. (transitive) To measure the performance or quality of (an item) relative to another similar item in an impartial scientific manner.
   1. (intransitive, followed by at) To give certain results in a benchmark test.
   2. (transitive, intransitive, followed by against) To use something (e.g., a competitor's product) as a standard to improve one's own thing.

Synonyms

• (UK) kitemark
• yardstick

Derived terms

• benchmarkable
• benchmarker
• benchmarketing
• canned benchmark
• microbenchmark
• rebenchmark
• unbenchmarked
• unbenchmarked