Meaning & use
grammage
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The weight of a type of paper measured in grams per square meter, showing how thick and heavy it is.
Grammar: Uncountable; used with numbers as a measurement: paper of 80 grammage.
Patterns
- grammage of something
- high grammage
- low grammage
The printer needs paper with a grammage of at least 100 for the cover.
Higher grammage means the paper feels thicker and more expensive.
This card has a grammage of 250, so it is quite stiff.
Common combinations
- high grammage
- High grammage paper is often used for business cards.
- low grammage
- Low grammage paper is cheaper but tears easily.
- grammage of paper
- The grammage of this paper is printed on the package.
- increase the grammage
- They increased the grammage to make the packaging stronger.
Synonyms and how they differ
- paper weight
- Everyday term for how heavy paper is; 'grammage' is the precise technical measurement.
- basis weight
- American term for paper weight, measured differently; 'grammage' uses the metric system.
Commonly confused: grammage or grammar?
grammage vs grammar
Grammar is the rules of language; grammage is the weight of paper. They sound similar but are completely different.
Practice
The designer chose a paper with a high ______ to give the brochure a luxurious feel.
Choose one answer.
Grammage refers to paper weight and thickness, which affects how luxurious it feels. Grammar is language rules, gramophone is an old record player, and gram is a unit of weight but not used for paper thickness.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grammage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.