benchmark

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benchmark

/ˈbɛnt͡ʃmɑːk/ UK
/ˈbɛnt͡ʃmɑɹk/ Canada, US
/ˈbent͡ʃmɐːk/ Australia, New Zealand

Where it comes from

From bench + mark. First use appears c. 1842. Originally a mark cut into a stone by land surveyors to secure a bench (from land surveying jargon in the 19th century, meaning a type of bracket), to mount measuring equipment. The figurative sense first appears c. 1884.

noun benchmarks · bench mark

A standard by which something is evaluated or measured. Near-synonym: criterion
Similar: criterion
A surveyor's mark made on some stationary object and shown on a map; used as a reference point. Near-synonym: datum
Similar: datum
A computer program that is executed to assess the performance of the runtime environment.

verb benchmarks · benchmarking · benchmarked · bench mark

intransitive, transitive, followed by at To give certain results in a benchmark test.
ambitransitive, transitive, followed by against To use something (e.g., a competitor's product) as a standard to improve one's own thing.

Similar: kitemark, yardstick

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: bench mark, criterion, quantify, measuring, baseline, analysis, footnote, index, referencing, calibrate, referring, coverage, refer, indicator, meta, referral

verb

Similar: kitemark, yardstick

Translations

Every language

noun standard

Español	cota de referencia, estándar de comparación, acotación referencial, marca comparativa
हिन्दी	मानक mānak, मापदंड māpdaṇḍ, कसौटी kasauṭī
Português	padrão
Français	critère, aune, étalon
Deutsch	Maßstab, Höhenfestpunkt, Kriterium
Italiano	riferimento, termine di paragone, paragone, modello, paradigma
Русский	крите́рий kritérij, мери́ло merílo, станда́рт standárt, показа́тель pokazátelʹ

noun surveyor's mark

Español	marca topográfica, punto de referencia, cota, acotación
日本語	水準点 suijunten
Português	ponto de referência
Français	point de référence, repère
Italiano	punto di riferimento
Română	punct de reper, reper
Русский	репер reper

noun computing: program executed to assess performance

Français	banc d'essai

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Cite this

MLA

"benchmark." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/benchmark. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

benchmark. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/benchmark

Chicago

"benchmark." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/benchmark.

BibTeX

@misc{benchmark_2026,
  title = {benchmark},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/benchmark},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}