The stere or stère is a unit of volume in the original metric system equal to one cubic metre. The name was coined from the Greek στερεός stereos 'solid' in 1793 France as a metric equivalent to the cord. The stère is typically used for measuring large quantities of firewood or other cut wood,[1] while the cubic meter is used for uncut wood. It is not part of the modern metric system (SI).
In Dutch there's also a kuub, short for kubieke meter which is similar but different. Whereas a "kuub" is a full cubic metre, as it was traditionally used for wood a stère is a cubic metre pile of woodblocks. Such a stère is a little bit less than a kuub or full cubic metre of wood, because the spaces between the woodblocks are included in a stère while they're not in a kuub. In Finnish, the same unit is known as motti (from Swedish mått, "measure").
Note that the stère as used in contexts outside the timber industry is not subject to the same ambiguity.[2] In particular, stère and kilostère are sometimes used in hydrology, as the kilostere is a slightly larger metric analog of an acre-foot, similar to the relationship of the tonne and (short) ton.[3]