What exactly is a "Benchmark"?

Noddy, I always thought it to be the perfect prototype--state of the art--as the water mark in to fine paper.

er, make that "is". I'm lazy as well.

To my knowledge, when a surveyor had determined the exact position and elevation of any particular point, that point may be used thereafter as a bench mark from which to determine the position and elevation of any other point.

Were the surveyor to stand on a certain stone at the top of a hill, and using a theodolite and an accurate clock, determine the lattitude and longitude of the position to within a certain tolerance, and then accurately determine the elevation above mean sea level, that stone could be used thereafter in sitings as a bench mark from which to determine the position of any other point within site of that stone.

Well, I know a 'bench mark', which is a surveyor's mark (which I know from the term "tidal bench mark").

I found 57 BENCH, Mark, in the United States...

I rercall seeing benchmarks when, as a kid wandering through the mountains of Virginia, I would stumble upon one. It would be a post, a short post, and it would as I recall have the elevation and perhaps, me thinks, the latitude and longitude for that place. I'm not sure why anyone would care. But there it was.

(edit: setenta is quick and accurate)

a bench mark is a surveyed
"standard reference point" that is is placed every few thousand square meters around the Us and other countries. Its a concrete monument with a bronze shield that contains a point which has an ascendent order of accuracy based on the agency surveying. Today we use them to correct GPS readings by stationing a transmitter on the benchmark and then correcting the readings we get from the satellites by differential correction. Similar to WAAS except more accurate. BAck in the day when all they had were EDMs and transits , you always needed a benchmark toaccurately "tie" your survey to the real world.
BFD



For english usage,Its the standard reference to which we compare other similar things."The benchmark for lathes is the Conover brand" sez I

yeh, it was my favorite Bourbon when I drank Bourbon. Itd make a julep thatd make you cry

how about a landmark of jurisprudence.

Many thanks, all. The surveying angle would account for the authority I associate with a "benchmark".

But why a "bench"?

Does "bench" mean something besides a seat without a back?

It's a "level elevation of land along a shore or coast, especially one marking a former shoreline".

(And it' a thwart in a boat.)

bench
O.E. benc "long seat," from P.Gmc. *bankiz (cf. Da. bænk, M.Du. banc, O.H.G. banch). Used for "office of a judge" since 1292. Sporting sense (in baseball, N.Amer. football, etc.) is from 1912; the verb meaning "to take out of the game" is from 1917. Hence, also, bench-warmer (1892). Benchmark "surveyor's point of reference" is from 1842; fig. sense is from 1884.
"The days for 'bench-warmers' with salaries are also past." ["New York Sporting News," Jan. 9, 1892]

Farmer, what does Grant know about Southern drinks.

p.s. Noddy. Park benches have backs.

I suspect them ol' boys back in the day, hot and tired from traipsin' aroun' and gettin' everything just so, hadda have a bit of a sit down, so they put up a rude bench on which to relax before foldin' up that damned heavy theodolite and traipsin' off again . . .

okay, okay. Setanta. I yield!

Luscious Lips Letty,

You never say that to me...

Well, Mathos, if you'd quit flirting with that Brit, I might just sit on a bench in the park with you some delightful night.

Letty--

Many thanks. English teachers are the best people.

Odd, isn't it that surveyors would think of a long, level line as a bench rather than as a table?

Park benches are creations of an effete age. The original benches were backless--probably logs that you had to fell yourself with your bare hands and burnished bodkins.

Right, Noddy. and of course there are the cobbler's benches.