What does metering mean?
Metering is the practice of measuring or recording an amount, rate, or level of use. Its most familiar modern meaning concerns utilities: electricity, gas, water, and other resources are metered through devices that record consumption, commonly for billing, monitoring, or conservation. In this context, metering can refer both to the measuring process itself and to the equipment or systems that perform it. The word also has an older literary use for giving verse a particular rhythm or poetic measure. Although it may sound technical, metering is not limited to engineering; any systematic measurement can be described this way. The term is especially useful because it distinguishes the act of quantifying use from the meter itself, which is the physical device or unit that makes the measurement.
The process of measuring, recording, or regulating an amount or rate of consumption, especially of a utility or natural resource.
"The city has introduced smart metering to help households reduce their energy use."
The plural metered is used attributively to describe measurement equipment or systems, such as metered electricity.
The present participle of meter: measuring or recording an amount or rate of use.
"The sensors are metering water consumption throughout the building."
This is the third-person singular present form and the present participle of the verb meter.
The plural is rare; attributive forms such as metered and metering are much more common.
"The separate meterings for electricity and gas showed very different consumption patterns."
The word metering quietly describes the invisible arithmetic behind every utility bill—and increasingly behind the way cities manage energy and water.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does metering come from?
Metering comes from the verb meter, which derives from Middle English metre, ultimately from Latin metrum and Ancient Greek metron, both meaning “measure.” The verb originally referred to measuring or to assigning poetic measure, while the modern technical sense developed as utilities began systematically recording consumption. Related words include metric, metronome, metrology, and diameter, all of which reflect the same Greek and Latin vocabulary of measurement.
Related word forms
How metering is actually used
In modern infrastructure contexts, metering most often refers to the measurement and recording of utility consumption. The poetic sense is less common but remains established.
Easily confused with metering
A meter is the device or unit used to measure something, whereas metering is the process of taking or recording measurements.
Metering means measuring or regulating quantities, while mattering means being important or consequential.