Benchmark
/ˈbɛntʃmɑːrk/
Definitions
2 meaningsA point of reference or standard used for evaluation or comparison.
/ˈbɛntʃmɑːrk/
A standard against which something can be measured or judged.
Our company uses sales figures from last year as a benchmark.
💡 Simply: Something you measure against to see how good something else is.
More Examples
The new car's fuel efficiency is a benchmark in its class.
How It's Used
"The new software's performance was benchmarked against the previous version."
"The fund's performance is benchmarked against the S&P 500."
To measure or assess something against a standard or benchmark.
/ˈbɛntʃmɑːrk/
To evaluate something by comparison to a standard.
The researchers benchmarked the new drug against existing treatments.
💡 Simply: To compare something to a standard to see how it does.
More Examples
The company decided to benchmark its marketing strategies against competitors.
How It's Used
"We need to benchmark our processes against industry best practices."
From Middle English *bench mark*, literally a mark on a bench to indicate a certain level or measurement. The modern usage evolved from its original use in surveying and engineering.
Originally used in surveying and engineering, the word later expanded its usage in various fields like finance and software development.
Memory tip
Think of a literal bench mark – a point of reference on a bench.