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See Metric, a.

isotropic; having different properties in different directions; thus, crystals of the isometric system are optically isotropic, but all other crystals are anisotropic.

hich a ray of transmitted light suffers no double refraction. All crystals, not of the isometric system, are either uniaxial or biaxial. -- Optic axis, Visual axis (Opt.), the straight line passing through the center of the pupil, and perpendicular to the surface of the eye. -- Radical axis of two circles (Geom.), th…

crystalline forms, or to solids which have oblique angles between the axes; as, the clinometric systems.

A prefix, from Gr. de`ka, signifying ten; specifically (Metric System), a prefix signifying the weight or measure that is ten times the principal unit.

A weight of the metric system; ten grams, equal to about 154.32 grains avoirdupois.

A measure of capacity in the metric system; a cubic volume of ten liters, equal to about 610.24 cubic inches, that is, 2.642 wine gallons.

A measure of length in the metric system; ten meters, equal to about 393.7 inches.

A weight in the metric system; one tenth of a gram, equal to 1.5432 grains avoirdupois.

A measure of capacity or volume in the metric system; one tenth of a liter, equal to 6.1022 cubic inches, or 3.38 fluid ounces.

A measure of length in the metric system; one tenth of a meter, equal to 3.937 inches.

A solid bounded by twelve quadrilateral faces. It is a hemihedral form of the isometric system, allied to the tetrahedron.

A unit employed by oculists in numbering glasses according to the metric system; a refractive power equal to that of a glass whose principal focal distance is one meter.

Of or pertaining to the dioptre, or to the metric system of numbering glasses. -- n.

The unit of weight in the metric system. It was intended to be exactly, and is very nearly, equivalent to the weight in a vacuum of one cubic centimeter of pure water at its maximum density. It is equal to 15.432 grains. See Grain, n., 4. Gram degree, or Gramme degree (Physics), a unit of heat, being the amount of heat…

A measure of capacity in the metric system, being a cubic decimeter, equal to 61.022 cubic inches, or 2.113 American pints, or 1.76 English pints.

Combining forms signifying: (a) Great, extended, powerful; as, megascope, megacosm. (b) (Metric System, Elec., Mech., etc.)

In the metric system, one million meters, or one thousand kilometers.

A measure of length, equal to 39.37 English inches, the standard of linear measure in the metric system of weights and measures. It was intended to be, and is very nearly, the ten millionth part of the distance from the equator to the north pole, as ascertained by actual measurement of an arc of a meridian. See Metric…

or pertaining to the decimal system of measurement of which a meter is the unit; as, the metric system; a metric measurement. Metric analysis (Chem.), analysis by volume; volumetric analysis. -- Metric system, a system of weights and measures originating in France, the use of which is required by law in many countrie…