benchmark.

A reference point or standard used to compare performance, quality, or change.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• set a benchmark
• benchmark for comparison
• meet a benchmark

On the page

Last year's attendance provides a benchmark for assessing the intervention.

The department chose an international benchmark that local schools could not realistically meet.

Without a clear benchmark, the label efficient tells readers very little.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic. The benchmark may be a target, a previous result, or an external standard; say which. Meeting a benchmark is not automatically evidence of optimal performance. Singular: benchmark; plural: benchmarks. Derived family (not inflections): benchmarking; benchmark also functions as a verb. Secondary verb inflections [base, third, past, past participle, -ing]: benchmark, benchmarks, benchmarked, benchmarked, benchmarking.