From Elsmar Cove Quality Assurance and Business Standards Wiki
A standard is typically specifications / parameters applicable to many things or types of things. An example of a standard would be ISO 9001 which is applicable to just about any organization.
Another example would be ISO 10110-17:2004 (Optics and photonics -- Preparation of drawings for optical elements and systems -- Part 17: Laser irradiation damage threshold) which is applicable to any such devices any company makes (manufactures).
Another way of thinking of a standard which might be more relevant to someone is the CD-ROM Digital Data standard (CD-ROM, ISO 9660, "High Sierra") which allows different computer systems made by different companies to all be able to read CD-ROM disks.
