What does dekameter mean?
A dekameter is a unit of length in the metric system equal to ten metres, symbolised as 'dam'. Along with its companions such as the hectometre and kilometre, it was established as part of the original metric framework to provide convenient intermediate measures of distance. In practice, the dekameter has found little everyday use: speakers generally prefer to say 'thirty metres' rather than 'three dekameters', and the unit survives mainly in technical documents, land measurement, and mathematics education. Its most familiar legacy may be indirect — a square dekameter is an are, the traditional land-measure that underlies the hectare. The word derives from the Greek 'deka', meaning ten, combined with 'metre'. The British spelling is 'decametre', while 'dekameter' is standard in American English. Although uncommon, the term remains useful for anyone working with metric prefixes or reading older surveying and scientific literature.
nounA unit of length in the metric system equal to ten metres.
- A metric unit of length equal to ten metres.
"The surveyor measured the plot in dekameters rather than metres to keep the figures manageable."
"The swimming area was roped off at a distance of two dekameters from shore."
"Land parcels in some European countries were traditionally recorded in square dekameters, better known as ares."
Regular plural; the British-spelling form 'decametres' also occurs.
"The bridge spans roughly four dekameters across the narrow gorge."
A single dekameter equals the width of a tennis court — yet most people have never needed this metric middle child between the metre and the hectometre.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dekameter
The word dekameter combines the Greek prefix 'deka-', meaning 'ten', with 'metre', itself derived from the Greek 'metron' ('measure'). It was coined in French ('décamètre') in the wake of the late eighteenth-century development of the metric system in revolutionary France, when a systematic set of prefixed units was devised. English adopted the term alongside the other metric units during the nineteenth century. It shares its Greek numerical root with words such as 'decade', 'decimal', and 'December'.
Related word forms
How dekameter is actually used
The dekameter is rarely used in everyday contexts, having been largely superseded by multiples of metres expressed in powers of ten (e.g. 'twenty metres' rather than 'two dekameters'). It appears chiefly in technical, historical, or educational settings. The British spelling is 'decametre'; in American English it is typically written 'dekameter', though 'decameter' also occurs. The symbol is 'dam'.
Easily confused with dekameter
A decimeter is one-tenth of a metre, whereas a dekameter is ten metres — a factor of one hundred difference.