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-meter

Also ‑metre.

Measuring instrument; unit of measurement.

Greek metron, measure; ‑metrēs, measurer.

There are several hundred terms in ‑meter for various kinds of measuring instrument, a few of the more common of which are in the list below. The general term meter refers to any device that measures and records the quantity, degree, or rate of something.

Terms in ‑metre refer to units of measurement based on the metre: centimetre, kilometre. Forms such as kilometer and centimeter are the equivalent US spellings.

The words diameter (Greek dia, across), geometer, a person skilled in geometry (Greek , earth, because the first were land surveyors), and perimeter (Greek peri‑, around) come from the same Greek root. The ending also appears in a set of words for lines of verse containing a specified number of metrical feet, as in hexameter (Greek hex, six), tetrameter (Greek tetra‑, four), or octameter (Greek oktō, eight).

Examples of words in -meter

altimeter

altitude

Latin altus, high

barometer

atmospheric pressure

Greek baros, weight

calorimeter

heat involved in a chemical reaction

Latin calor, heat

dosimeter

absorbed doses of ionizing radiation

English dose

interferometer

a device that uses the interaction of two or more waves of the same frequency to measure wavelength

English interfere

manometer

an instrument for measuring the pressure in a gas or liquid, specifically the medical device sphygmomanometer (Greek sphugmos, pulse), for measuring blood pressure

See mano-

potentiometer

electromotive force using potential difference

English potential

radiometer

the intensity or force of radiation

Latin radius, a ray

spectrometer

spectra of electromagnetic radiation

Latin spectra, image, apparition

speedometer

the speed of a vehicle

English speed

tachometer

the working speed of an engine

Greek takhos, speed

thermometer

temperature

Greek thermē, heat

voltmeter

electric potential in volts

English volt

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