Laser Nomenclature

Hi All, This may sound like a dumb question & it probably is, but if somebody would answer it I'd be grateful. In the realm of Laser Power Meters (LPM's). certain types of labeling for the knobs/switches keep appearing, & I was wondering what they stood for? For example; Watts/dBM What does dBM stand for? I also see it written like this dB/watt I thought dB stood for DECIBEL & was a SOUND RATING VALUE? Can anyone enlighten me, please? Thanks, phoenix77

Thank you very much MAELSTROM! After accessing the Wikipedia site, I felt kinda foolish & VERY STUPID! :-?phoenix77