benchmark

CEFRC1

/ˈbɛn(t)ʃmɑːk/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    a standard by which something can be measured or judged.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A computer program that is executed to assess the performance of the runtime environment.

Examples

  • The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark discount rate to an 18-year low.

  • Without a good benchmark, it's hard to tell which software is faster.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A surveyor's mark made on some stationary object and shown on a map; used as a reference point.

  2. A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.

verb

Extra meaning

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

More examples

In context

  • Near-synonym: criterion

  • Near-synonym: datum

  • 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.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The company's quarterly sales figures serve as a blank for industry performance.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From bench + mark. First use appears c. 1842. Originally a mark cut into a stone by land surveyors to secure a bench (from land surveying jargon in the 19th century, meaning a type of bracket), to mount measuring equipment. The figurative sense first appears c. 1884.