mensuration

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act or process of measuring; measurement.

   “Having accomplished the firſt part called Longimetra, contayning ſundrie rules to meaſure lẽgthes, breadthes, heigths, depthes, and diſtances: I thinke it meete novv to proceede to the ſeconde kynde named Planimetra, vvherein ye shall haue rules for the menſuration of all manner playne Figures, to knovv their contente ſuperficiall.”

   “Of this ridge Soutra hill is supposed to be the highest; but hitherto no actual mensuration is known to have been taken of it : but, in judging by the view, from its elevated top, of the neighbouring hills and country, it must be upwards of 1500 feet high.”

   “It would seem that in Avebury, Stonehenge, and Malta the mystery cult of menstruation/mensuration reached its most consummate development.”

   “The pointer readings will contain all the real information on the subject, and the extension of scientific principles will involve an extension of mensuration to include the new subject.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The study of measurement, especially the derivation and use of algebraic formulae to measure the areas, volumes and different parameters of geometric figures.

   “With the passage of time I have realized that the illustrations can also serve, to some extent, to make mensuration more readily possible.”

3. (countable, uncountable)A 13th century system for governing rhythmic relationships in music that was a precursor to the modern use of time signatures; The use of mensural notation.

   “Different levels of mensuration have different roles in the musical structure. The most prominent one is the one corresponding to the compositional tactus. Rhythmic groups may contradict the mensuration temporarily, but in the examples in this book, they never do so throughout an entire piece.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The use of quantitative measurements of forest stand to determine stand timber volume, productivity, and health.

   “Forest mensuration, in many respects the most important branch of forestry, was nicely defined by Professor Henry S. Graves (1906) in the first complete volume on forest mensuration to appear in the Americas.”