What does admeasure mean?
Admeasure is a formal verb meaning to measure out or apportion something — to divide a quantity, area, or amount into designated shares. It carries a precise, official connotation, appearing most often in legal and surveying language, as when land is admeasured among heirs or damages are admeasured by a court. The word derives from Latin roots: the prefix ad- ('to, toward') combined with mensurare ('to measure'), making it a close cousin of the everyday word measure, though admeasure implies not just assessing size but actively distributing portions. While rare in casual conversation, it survives robustly in technical registers, particularly through its noun form admeasurement, used in property law to describe the official determination of boundaries or dimensions. For writers seeking an authoritative, exact register, admeasure offers a precise alternative to looser terms like divide or portion out.
To measure out or apportion something, especially in a formal or legal context; to allot shares or quantities.
"The court ordered that the remaining acreage be admeasured equally among the three heirs."
Chiefly legal and technical; rare in everyday speech.
A measurement or the act of measuring out; an allotted portion.
"The charter specified the admeasure of grain owed to each household."
Rare; the derived form 'admeasurement' is more common in legal usage.
As a noun, the plural refers to multiple measurements or allotted portions; very rare outside historical or legal texts.
"The ledger recorded the admeasures of timber granted to each village."
Before 'measure' took over everyday English, 'admeasure' did the measuring — and it still survives today in legal documents dividing up land and inheritance.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of admeasure
Admeasure entered English in the late Middle Ages, borrowed from Old French amesurer, which itself derives from Latin ad- ('to') plus mensurare ('to measure'), from mensura ('a measuring'). It shares this Latin root with measure, dimension, commensurate, and immense. The word has been used in English since at least the 15th century, particularly in legal contexts concerning the division of land and property.
Related word forms
How admeasure is actually used
Formal and somewhat archaic in general usage; most commonly encountered in legal and surveying contexts, particularly in property law where 'admeasurement' remains a technical term.
Easily confused with admeasure
Measure is the general act of determining size or quantity, while admeasure specifically means to measure out and distribute portions of something.