Yard

Definition: A yard (symbol: yd) is a unit of length in both the imperial and US customary systems of measurement. Since 1959, a yard has been defined as exactly 0.9144 meters. It is also equal to 3 feet, or 36 inches.

History/origin: The origin of the yard as a unit is unclear. It is an English unit (predecessor of imperial units) and the term was derived from "gerd" in Old English, the earliest historical form of the English language. Some suggest that the yard could have been derived based on the girth of a person's waist. The yard was officially standardized in 1959 under an international agreement among English-speaking nations.

Current use: The yard is commonly used in field-length measurement for certain sports such as American and Canadian football, and association football (soccer). The yard is also used in cricket pitch dimensions, and sometimes in golf fairway measurements. In the United Kingdom (UK) as well as the United States, the yard is frequently used to refer to distance. In the UK, it is also a legal requirement that road signs indicating shorter distances are displayed in yards. The yard is widely used in construction, landscaping, and fabric measurement in countries using the imperial system.

Meter

Definition: A meter, or metre (symbol: m), is the base unit of length and distance in the International System of Units (SI). The meter is defined as the distance traveled by light in 1/299,792,458 of a second. This definition was modified in 2019 to reflect changes in the definition of the second.

History/origin: Originally, in 1793, the meter was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. This changed in 1889, when the International prototype metre was established as the length of a prototype meter bar (made of an alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium) measured at the melting point of ice. In 1960, the meter was again redefined, this time in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. The current definition of the meter is effectively the same as the definition that was adopted in 1983, with slight modifications due to the change in definition of the second.

Current use: Being the SI unit of length, the meter is used worldwide in many applications such as measuring distance, height, length, width, etc. The United States is one notable exception in that it largely uses US customary units such as yards, inches, feet, and miles instead of meters in everyday use. Meters are the standard unit for scientific measurements and are used globally in engineering, construction, athletics, and most international sports.

Yard to Meter Conversion Table

How to Convert Yard to Meter