English

Etymology

French stère, from Greek στερεος solid, because the unit was used for solid commodities such as firewood.

Noun

1. A cubic meter or kiloliter.

The stère is an old measurement unit for volume and equals one cubic metre.

The name originally comes from the Greek stereos, meaning solid. It was created in France in 1793 as a metric equivalent to the cord, for measuring large quantities of firewood.

The stère stands for cut up wood with spaces within the wood, while the cubic meter is used for uncut wood.

It is still used in some areas of France as the Bearn. An adequate coefficient of equivalence is one cubic metre equals 1.5 steres.

See also

• list of unusual units of measurement