mensuration

English

Etymology

From Middle French mensuration, from Late Latin mensūrātiōnem (“a measuring”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛnsjəˈɹeɪʃən/, [ˌmɛnʃəˈɹeɪʃn̩]

Noun

mensuration (countable and uncountable, plural mensurations)

1. The act or process of measuring; measurement.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:measurement

   • 1805, Robert Forsyth, The beauties of Scotland - Volume 1, page 512:

     Of this ridge Soutra hill is supposed to be the highest; but hitherto no actual mensuration is known to have been taken of it : but, in judging by the view, from its elevated top, of the neighbouring hills and country, it must be upwards of 1500 feet high.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 267:

     It would seem that in Avebury, Stonehenge, and Malta the mystery cult of menstruation/mensuration reached its most consummate development.

   • 2013, P. D. Lark, B. R. Craven, R. C. L. Bosworth, The Handling of Chemical Data, →ISBN, page 1:

     The pointer readings will contain all the real information on the subject, and the extension of scientific principles will involve an extension of mensuration to include the new subject.

2. (mathematics) The study of measurement, especially the derivation and use of algebraic formulae to measure the areas, volumes and different parameters of geometric figures.
   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page ix:

     With the passage of time I have realized that the illustrations can also serve, to some extent, to make mensuration more readily possible.

3. (music) A 13th century system for governing rhythmic relationships in music that was a precursor to the modern use of time signatures; The use of mensural notation.
   • 2015, Ruth I. DeFord, Tactus, Mensuration and Rhythm in Renaissance Music, →ISBN, page 470:

     Different levels of mensuration have different roles in the musical structure. The most prominent one is the one corresponding to the compositional tactus. Rhythmic groups may contradict the mensuration temporarily, but in the examples in this book, they never do so throughout an entire piece.

4. (forestry) The use of quantitative measurements of forest stand to determine stand timber volume, productivity, and health.
   • 1973, Thomas W. Beers, Charles I. Miller, Manual of Forest Mensuration:

     Forest mensuration, in many respects the most important branch of forestry, was nicely defined by Professor Henry S. Graves (1906) in the first complete volume on forest mensuration to appear in the Americas.

Related terms

• mensural

Anagrams

• mountainers, munerations, numerations

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

mensuration f (plural mensurations)

1. measurement
2. (in the plural) the size of a person or animal etc.

Further reading

• “mensuration”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.