Metric units

Metric units is an obsolete term for a system of units in which the unit of length is the meter, the unit of mass the kilogram, and the unit of time the second. Sometimes the unit of electric current, the ampere, is added to the system and then it is referred to as the MKSA system, a term which is also obsolete.

The metric system of units was founded by the French revolutionaries around 1790 (see the article on the kilogram for more details about the history) and grew out to an internationally standardized and very elaborate system of units the Le Système international d’unités formally abbreviated as SI units. See this article for an overview of the SI units.