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.

Yardstick vs Benchmark - What's the difference?

yardstick | benchmark |

As nouns the difference between yardstick and benchmark

is that yardstick is a measuring rod thirty-six inches long while benchmark is a standard by which something is evaluated or measured.

As a verb benchmark is

to measure the performance of (an item) relative to another similar item in an impartial scientific manner.

yardstick

English

Noun

(en noun) (wikipedia yardstick)
  • A measuring rod thirty-six inches long.
  • (figuratively) A standard to which other measurements or comparisons are judged.
  • * 2008 April 8, Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt, “Attacks in Baghdad spiked in March, U.S. data show”, in , 2008 April 8 edition, “Africa & Middle East” section,
  • Attacks against civilians in the capital remained relatively unchanged: 69 in March from 62 in February. ¶ However, another yardstick , the number of civilian deaths tracked by the Iraqi government, shot up last month after several months of decline.

    Derived terms

    * Portsmouth yardstick

    benchmark

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.
  • * 2013 , Martina Hyde, Is the pope Catholic?'' (in ''The Guardian , 20 September 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/20/is-pope-catholic-atheists-gay-people-abortion]
  • 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.
  • A surveyor's mark made on some stationary object and shown on a map; used as a reference point.
  • (computing) A computer program that is executed to assess the performance of the runtime environment.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To measure the performance of (an item) relative to another similar item in an impartial scientific manner.
  • References