3 ms·

What is etalon?

• fransje26 3y ago
  Think of it as a horse. So, it looks like OP is referring to a very stable horse. Although it would probably be a stretch to call it a dependable workhorse.. https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9E2797 https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9E2797 https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9E2798 https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9E2798
• thiht 3y ago
  Not sure if it’s used a lot in English, but in French a « valeur étalon » is a value of reference. Like you measure something precisely, define it as standard and it becomes your étalon for future measures I guess it’s used in this sense here
  • Fluorescence 3y ago
    Not heard this used before so nice to learn something, thanks! Is it said in a neutral sense like yardstick or is it an ideal to aspire to like exemplar or paragon?
    • thiht 3y ago
      It's neutral. For example, it was used with metric system definitions: at some point the "kilogramme-étalon" was literally an object weighing 1kg (by definition, the kg was this object). You can see here a kilogramme étalon: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Standard_kilogram%2C_2.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Standard... and a mètre étalon: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Mètre-étalon_Paris.JPG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Mètre-ét... Edit: for completeness sake, a litre and décalitre (10L) étalon: https://portail.polytechnique.edu/musx/sites/pf_191/files/accueil/litre_decalitre.jpg https://portail.polytechnique.edu/musx/sites/pf_191/files/ac...
• deleted 3y ago
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