[Fr. stère, f. Gr. στερεός solid.] The unit of the metric system for solid measures; a cubic meter, equal to about 35.3 English cubic feet.
1798. Tilloch’s Philos. Mag., I. 248. Measures for Fire wood. Stere, a quantity equal to a cubic metre. By giving the length of a metre to billets, nothing more will be necessary, in order to obtain the stere, than to range them within a square frame (chassis), each side of which is equal to a metre.
1837. J. T. Smith, trans. Vicat’s Mortars, 17. Every cubic metre of lime consumes (on an average) 1.66 steres in firewood, 22.00 steres in faggots, and 30 steres in fascines.
1885. A. Macfarlane, Phys. Arith., 93. In the metric system we have three series of units of volume. The stere and its derivatives are for solid measure.
