What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Span vs Measure - What's the difference?

span | measure | Related terms |

Span is a related term of measure.


As an adjective span

is hairless, glabrous.

As a noun measure is

the quantity, size, weight, distance or capacity of a substance compared to a designated standard.

As a verb measure is

to ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard.

span

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) spann

Noun

(en noun)
  • The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; eighth of a fathom.
  • Hence, a small space or a brief portion of time.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Yet not to earth's contracted span / Thy goodness let me bound.
  • * Farquhar
  • Life's but a span ; I'll every inch enjoy.
  • * 2007 . Zerzan, John. Silence .
  • The unsilent present is a time of evaporating attention spans ,
  • The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
  • The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
  • (nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
  • (obsolete) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
  • (mathematics) the space of all linear combinations of something
  • Etymology 2

    Old English spannan

    Verb

    (spann)
  • To traverse the distance between.
  • The suspension bridge spanned the canyon as tenuously as one could imagine.
  • To cover or extend over an area or time period.
  • The parking lot spans three acres.
    The novel spans three centuries.
    World record! 5 GHz WiFi connection spans 189 miles. [http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/27/world-record-5ghz-wifi-connection-spans-189-miles/]
  • * Prescott
  • The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.
  • To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.
  • to span''' a space or distance; to '''span a cylinder
  • * Bible, Isa. xiviii. 13
  • My right hand hath spanned the heavens.
  • (mathematics) to generate an entire space by means of linear combinations
  • (intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.
  • To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.
  • Etymology 3

    Verb

    (head)
  • (archaic, nonstandard) (spin)
  • *
  • * '>citation
  • *:a giant pick-up truck span out of control during a stunt show in a Dutch town, killing three people
  • measure

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The quantity, size, weight, distance or capacity of a substance compared to a designated standard.
  • An (unspecified) quantity or capacity.
  • *
  • * 2013 , Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban'' (in ''The Guardian , 6 September 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/06/england-moldova-world-cup-qualifier-matchreport]
  • It ended up being a bittersweet night for England, full of goals to send the crowd home happy, buoyed by the news that Montenegro and Poland had drawn elsewhere in Group H but also with a measure of regret about what happened to Danny Welbeck and what it means for Roy Hodgson's team going into a much more difficult assignment against Ukraine.
  • The precise designated distance between two objects or points.
  • The dimensions or capacity of anything, reckoned according to some standard; size or extent, determined and stated.
  • The tailor took my measure for a coat.
  • * Bible, Job xi. 9
  • The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
  • The act of measuring.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • A musical designation consisting of all notes and or rests delineated by two vertical bars; an equal and regular division of the whole of a composition.
  • * '>citation
  • (music) The group or grouping of beats, caused by the regular recurrence of accented beats.
  • (dancing) A regulated movement, especially in a slow and stately dance, corresponding to the time in which the accompanying music is performed.
  • (poetry) The manner of ordering and combining the quantities, or long and short syllables; meter; rhythm; hence, a metrical foot.
  • a poem in iambic measure
  • A rule, ruler or measuring stick.
  • A tactic, strategy or piece of legislation.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Obama goes troll-hunting , passage=The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.}}
  • (mathematics) A function that assigns a non-negative number to a given set following the mathematical nature that is common among length, volume, probability and the like.
  • (arithmetic, dated) A number which is contained in a given number a number of times without a remainder; a divisor.
  • the greatest common measure of two or more numbers
  • (geology) A bed or stratum.
  • coal measures'''; lead '''measures
  • An indicator; something used to assess some property.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Man Utd 1-6 Man City , passage=City were also the victors on that occasion 56 years ago, winning 5-0, but this visit was portrayed as a measure of their progress against the 19-time champions.}}

    Synonyms

    * (musical designation) bar * (precise designated distance) metric

    Hyponyms

    * (mathematics) positive measure, signed measure, complex measure, Borel measure, , complete measure, Lebesgue measure

    Verb

    (measur)
  • To ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Towards the end of poverty , passage=But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}
  • To estimate the unit size of something.
  • To judge, value, or appraise.
  • * (John Milton)
  • Great are thy works, Jehovah, infinite / Thy power! what thought can measure thee?
  • To obtain or set apart; to mark in even increments.
  • (rare) To traverse, cross, pass along; to travel over.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • A true devoted pilgrim is not weary / To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps.
  • To adjust by a rule or standard.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • To secure a contented spirit, measure your desires by your fortunes, not your fortunes by your desires.
  • To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; often with out'' or ''off .
  • * Bible, Matthew vii. 2
  • With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
  • * Addison
  • That portion of eternity which is called time, measured out by the sun.

    Derived terms

    * measurement * measure stick * measure theory