meters (units for distance) en

The fundamental units of length in the metric system (International Systems of Units, SI), equivalent to approximately 39.37 inches. Defined as the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 second. Historically, the meter was defined by the French Academy of Sciences in 1791 as 1/10,000,000 of the quadrant of the Earth’s circumference from the North Pole through Paris to the equator.