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"

capacity measure, capacity unit, cubage unit, cubature unit, cubic content unit, cubic measure, displacement unit, volume unit - a unit of measurement of volume or capacity

value - the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable; "the Shakespearean Shylock is of dubious value in the modern world"

gold standard - a monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is defined by a stated quantity of gold

silver standard - a monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is defined by a stated quantity of silver

bimetallism - a monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is defined by stated amounts of two metals (usually gold and silver) with values set at a predetermined ratio

post - an upright consisting of a piece of timber or metal fixed firmly in an upright position; "he set a row of posts in the ground and strung barbwire between them"

flag - emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design

oriflamme - a red or orange-red flag used as a standard by early French kings

normal - conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal; "serve wine at normal room temperature"; "normal diplomatic relations"; "normal working hours"; "normal word order"; "normal curiosity"; "the normal course of events"

common - of no special distinction or quality; widely known or commonly encountered; average or ordinary or usual; "the common man"; "a common sailor"; "the common cold"; "a common nuisance"; "followed common procedure"; "it is common knowledge that she lives alone"; "the common housefly"; "a common brand of soap"

orthodox - adhering to what is commonly accepted; "an orthodox view of the world"

linguistics - the scientific study of language

regular - in accordance with fixed order or procedure or principle; "his regular calls on his customers"; "regular meals"; "regular duties"