Stère
Encyclopedia
The stere or stère is a unit
of volume
in the original metric system
equal to one cubic metre
. The name was coined from the Greek στερεός stereos 'solid' in 1793 France
as a metric equivalent to the cord
. The stère is typically used for measuring large quantities of firewood or other cut wood, while the cubic meter is used for uncut wood. It is not part of the modern metric system (SI)
.
In Dutch there's also a kuub, short for kubieke meter which is similar but different. Whereas a "kuub" is a full cubic metre, as it was traditionally used for wood a stère is a cubic metre pile of woodblocks. Such a stère is a little bit less than a kuub or full cubic metre of wood, because the spaces between the woodblocks are included in a stère while they're not in a kuub. In Finnish, the same unit is known as motti (from Swedish mått, "measure").
Note that the stère as used in contexts outside the timber industry is not subject to the same ambiguity. In particular, stère and kilostère are sometimes used in hydrology, as the kilostere is a slightly larger metric analog of an acre-foot, similar to the relationship of the tonne
and (short) ton
.
Units of measurement
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of...
of volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
in the original metric system
Metric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
equal to one cubic metre
Cubic metre
The cubic metre is the SI derived unit of volume. It is the volume of a cube with edges one metre in length. An alternative name, which allowed a different usage with metric prefixes, was the stère...
. The name was coined from the Greek στερεός stereos 'solid' in 1793 France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as a metric equivalent to the cord
Cord (unit of volume)
The cord is a unit of measure of dry volume used in Canada and the United States to measure firewood and pulpwood. A cord is the amount of wood that, when "ranked and well stowed" , occupies a volume of...
. The stère is typically used for measuring large quantities of firewood or other cut wood, while the cubic meter is used for uncut wood. It is not part of the modern metric system (SI)
International System of Units
The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system and is generally a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten. The older metric system included several groups of units...
.
In Dutch there's also a kuub, short for kubieke meter which is similar but different. Whereas a "kuub" is a full cubic metre, as it was traditionally used for wood a stère is a cubic metre pile of woodblocks. Such a stère is a little bit less than a kuub or full cubic metre of wood, because the spaces between the woodblocks are included in a stère while they're not in a kuub. In Finnish, the same unit is known as motti (from Swedish mått, "measure").
Note that the stère as used in contexts outside the timber industry is not subject to the same ambiguity. In particular, stère and kilostère are sometimes used in hydrology, as the kilostere is a slightly larger metric analog of an acre-foot, similar to the relationship of the tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
and (short) ton
Short ton
The short ton is a unit of mass equal to . In the United States it is often called simply ton without distinguishing it from the metric ton or the long ton ; rather, the other two are specifically noted. There are, however, some U.S...
.