Caliber

The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. It comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic qu?lib, meaning mould.

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The term most often appears with respect to firearms, as a measure of the size of the barrel; however, it also has use in other fields.

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In firearms, the caliber is the diameter of the inside of the barrel. In a rifled barrel the distance is measured between the lands. The measurement is in inches and the caliber (abbreviated to cal) is quoted as a fraction (hundredths or thousandths) of an inch, so a 0.22 inch smallbore rifle is .22 cal.

American English: American English (AmE) is the form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. It is the primary language used in the United States. As of 2005, more than two-thirds of native speakers of English use various forms of American English. American English is also sometimes calle...

British English: British English (BrE) is a term used loosely to refer to the form of the English language written in the British Isles, and more narrowly as spoken in the south of England (extending elsewhere with varying degrees). For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the 9th century, the var...

Italian: Italian may refer to:...