stade
n. countablen. a very small unit of measurement used in the past to describe the size of tiny things. It is much smaller than a millimeter and is mostly used in old medical or scientific books.
n. a unit of linear measure equal to one-thousandth of a millimeter, or one micrometer. Primarily encountered in historical medical or geological literature; largely replaced by the micrometer in modern scientific contexts.
The doctor noted the size of the cells in stades.
In the nineteenth century, scientists used the stade to measure the diameter of microscopic organisms before the micrometer became standard.
The original manuscript describes the mineral grains as being several stades in length, a measurement that would now be expressed in micrometers to ensure international scientific consistency.
From Latin stadium, from Ancient Greek στάδιον (stádion), a 600-foot racetrack, a distance of 600 Greek feet. Cognate with French stade. Doublet of stadium, stadion, and estadio.
From Spanish estado, from Latin status (“standing”), in reference to it being roughly the height of a grown man. Doublet of estate, state, status, and estado.
From Dutch stad. Doublet of stead.
From German Stade, a town in Hanover.
From Old English staed. Cognate with German Gestade (“shore”).