Browse Definitions :

Do you capitalize units of measurement named for people?

Writing for Business

Which is correct?
The ______  is the International System of Units’ (SI) standard unit of power. It’s named for James Watt, a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer who developed the idea of horsepower.
a. Watt
b. watt

Answer: b.

Explanation:
This was kind of a trick question. You’d probably expect units of measurement named for people to be capitalized but that’s not the case. Like other units of measurement, “watt” is only capitalized as the symbol, “W.”

Here are a few other examples:

The tesla (T), the standard unit of magnetic flux density, is named for Nikola Tesla.

The newton (N), the SI unit of force, is named for Sir Isaac Newton.

The pascal (Pa), the unit of pressure, is named for Blaise Pascal.

The henry (H), the Standard International (SI) unit of inductance, is named for Joseph Henry.

 *****

NIST provides Essentials of the SI: Base & derived units.

Follow me on Twitter @tao_of_grammar

Dig Deeper on Writing for Business

Networking
  • network interface card (NIC)

    A network interface card (NIC) is a hardware component, typically a circuit board or chip, installed on a computer so it can ...

  • User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

    User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a communications protocol primarily used to establish low-latency and loss-tolerating connections...

  • Telnet

    Telnet is a network protocol used to virtually access a computer and provide a two-way, collaborative and text-based ...

Security
  • advanced persistent threat (APT)

    An advanced persistent threat (APT) is a prolonged and targeted cyber attack in which an intruder gains access to a network and ...

  • Mitre ATT&CK framework

    The Mitre ATT&CK (pronounced miter attack) framework is a free, globally accessible knowledge base that describes the latest ...

  • timing attack

    A timing attack is a type of side-channel attack that exploits the amount of time a computer process runs to gain knowledge about...

CIO
HRSoftware
  • employee resource group (ERG)

    An employee resource group is a workplace club or more formally realized affinity group organized around a shared interest or ...

  • employee training and development

    Employee training and development is a set of activities and programs designed to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities of ...

  • employee sentiment analysis

    Employee sentiment analysis is the use of natural language processing and other AI techniques to automatically analyze employee ...

Customer Experience
  • customer profiling

    Customer profiling is the detailed and systematic process of constructing a clear portrait of a company's ideal customer by ...

  • customer insight (consumer insight)

    Customer insight, also known as consumer insight, is the understanding and interpretation of customer data, behaviors and ...

  • buyer persona

    A buyer persona is a composite representation of a specific type of customer in a market segment.

Close