Make Your Point > Archived Issues > COMMENSURATE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce COMMENSURATE: I recommend saying it "kuh MEN sure ut." To hear it, click here. Just so you know, dictionaries disagree about the right way to say this word, and so several pronunciations are "correct." Whatever that means! connect this word to others: The word commensurate, meaning "appropriately balanced," always links two ideas: one thing is commensurate with another thing, as in "Her pay was commensurate with her experience." We can say the same for the word t____a___nt, meaning "equivalent to:" one thing is t____a___nt to another thing, as in "That awkward laugh is t____a___nt to a confession." Can you recall that one? (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: Our word "commensurate" has Latin roots that mean "measuring together," or less literally, "equal, or corresponding." When two things are commensurate, they're matched together in a way that makes sense. In other words, when one thing is commensurate with another thing, it's appropriate for that other thing in size, amount, or quality. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Adjective: "a hefty fee commensurate with the superb work they do;" "The length of their recovery is commensurate with their trauma." Other common forms:  commensurately, commensurateness how to use it: Pick the formal, semi-common word "commensurate" to emphasize how two things are logically, appropriately matched. Often we say that one thing is commensurate with another: "a payment commensurate with the work performed," "a punishment commensurate with the crime," "a career commensurate with her high IQ" (Los Angeles Times), "a writer whose talents prove commensurate with her ambitions" (New York Times). examples: "The moose looked up at us, decided we meant her no harm, and went back to drinking. We watched her for perhaps five minutes... feeling considerably elated. It seemed a confirmation--we were in the wilderness now--and a gratifying, totally commensurate reward for a day of hard toil."    — Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods, 1997 "Christie's has opened a specialized agency to help Chinese buyers purchase wine estates abroad. For Chinese élites who are eager to adopt lifestyles commensurate with their massive wealth, such status symbols lend a recognizable veneer of Western-style aristocracy."    — Bianca Bosker, The New Yorker, 1 October 2015 has this page helped you understand "commensurate"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "commensurate" without saying "proportionate" or "consistent." try it out: You might recall this news story: Christian Cooper, a black man birdwatching in Central Park, was harassed by a white woman, who called the police and claimed he was harassing her. He got it on video, the video went viral, and the woman was fired from her job and, like you'd expect, nationally hated. But Cooper wasn't sure that she should be prosecuted in court. Among other important reasons, he explained: "I believe in punishments that are commensurate with the wrongdoing." He figured that she'd suffered enough from the public disgrace and the loss of her job. What do you think? What kind of punishment would be commensurate with what she did? Why? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for March is "Yup, that's a real word." Check out the definition of a silly-sounding word--yes, a real one, from the Oxford English Dictionary--and see if you can come up with the word itself. To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Here's an example: "This three-syllable noun ending in the -ship suffix (as in 'friendship' and 'fellowship') means 'skill in traversing snow.'" The answer is "snowmanship." (Yup, that’s a real word!) Try this one today: This two-syllable noun with a familiar suffix means "somebody who has been snubbed." review this word: 1. The opposite of COMMENSURATE is A. DISTRACTING. B. DISENCHANTING. C. DISPROPORTIONATE. 2. From the New York Times: "Mies van der Rohe's drawings of monolithic apartment towers rise majestically above everything else, commensurate _____ his stature as a modernist god." A. in B. as C. with Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C Answer to the game question: Snubbee. As in, "Were you the snubber, or the snubbee?" a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.