Dictionary · Standards & Units
International measurement standard
A standard recognized by signatories to an international agreement and intended to serve worldwide.
Related terms
More from Standards & Units
Secondary measurement standard
A standard established through calibration with respect to a primary standard for a quantity of the same kind.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 5.5
System of quantities
A set of quantities together with the non-contradictory equations relating them — the framework a system of units is built on.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 1.3
Quantity calculus
The set of mathematical rules applied to quantities rather than bare numbers — the algebra by which units propagate through equations.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 1.21
Base unit
A measurement unit adopted by convention for a base quantity — in the SI: second, metre, kilogram, ampere, kelvin, mole, candela.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 1.10
Measurement unit
A real scalar quantity, defined and adopted by convention, with which any other quantity of the same kind is compared to express the ratio of the two quantities as a number.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 1.9
International System of Quantities (ISQ)
The system of quantities based on the seven base quantities: length, mass, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, amount of substance, and luminous intensity — the quantity framework beneath the SI.
VIM (JCGM 200:2012) 1.6