point of reference, reference point, reference - an indicator that orients you generally; "it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved"

benchmark - a standard by which something can be measured or judged; "his painting sets the benchmark of quality"

GPA, grade point average - a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted

yardstick - a measure or standard used for comparison; "on what kind of yardstick is he basing his judgment?"

medium of exchange, monetary system - anything that is generally accepted as a standard of value and a measure of wealth in a particular country or region

graduated table, ordered series, scale, scale of measurement - an ordered reference standard; "judging on a scale of 1 to 10"

standard of measurement, gauge - accepted or approved instance or example of a quantity or quality against which others are judged or measured or compared

baseline - an imaginary line or standard by which things are measured or compared; "the established a baseline for the budget"

norm - a standard or model or pattern regarded as typical; "the current middle-class norm of two children per family"

control condition, control - a standard against which other conditions can be compared in a scientific experiment; "the control condition was inappropriate for the conclusions he wished to draw"

ideal - the idea of something that is perfect; something that one hopes to attain

design criteria - criteria that designers should meet in designing some system or device; "the job specifications summarized the design criteria"