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 gē, 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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