Meter By Etymonline - Meaning Of Suffix

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Origin and history of -meter

-meter

word-forming element meaning "device or instrument for measuring;" commonly -ometer, occasionally -imeter; from French -mètre, from Greek metron "a measure," from PIE root *me- (2) "to measure."

Entries linking to -meter

altimeter(n.)

"instrument for measuring altitudes," 1918, from alti- "high" + -meter.

ammeter(n.)

instrument for measuring the strength of electric currents, 1882, from ampere + -meter.

• anemometer
• barometer
• calorimeter
• chronometer
• clinometer
• densimeter
• galvanometer
• gasometer
• goniometer
• gravimeter
• hygrometer
• interferometer
• manometer
• micrometer
• odometer
• photometer
• potentiometer
• psychrometer
• See All Related Words (29)

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barometer"instrument for measuring the weight or pressure of the atmosphere," 1660s, from Greek baros "weight" (from suffixed form of PIE root *gwere- (1) "heavy") + -meter. The name probably was coined (and certainly popularized) by English scientist Robert Boyle (1627-1691). The instrummanometer"instrument for determining and indicating the elastic pressure of gases or vapors," 1730, from French manomètre (1706), said to have been coined by French mathematician Pierre Varignon (1654-1722) from Greek manos "thin, rare; loose in texture, porous; scanty, few" (from PIE rooithyphallic1795, in reference to a type of meter used in ancient Greek poetry (earlier as a noun, "poem in ithyphallic meter," 1610s...Credited to Archilochus, the meter was that of the Bacchic hymns, which were sung in the rites during which such phalluses...scanlate 14c., scannen, "to mark off verse in metric feet, analyze verse according to its meter," from Late Latin scandere "to...Intransitive meaning "follow or agree with the rules of meter" is by 1857....elegiacRelated: Elegiacal (1540s, of meter); elegiacally....Sapphicc. 1500, "of or pertaining to Sappho or her poems," especially in reference to her characteristic meter, from French saphique...sprungarisen" (1570s); "cracked" (1590s); "made to fly up" (1590s); "tipsy, drunk" (1826, colloquial); in reference to poetic meter...moor"to fasten (a ship) in a particular location by or as by cables, anchors, etc.," late 15c., probably related to Old English mærels "mooring rope," via unrecorded *mærian "to moor," or possibly borrowed from Middle Low German moren or Middle Dutch maren "to moor," from West Germanrackc. 1300, "grating or open frame with bars or pegs upon which things are hung or placed," especially for kitchen use, possibly from Middle Dutch rec "framework," literally "something stretched out, related to recken (modern rekken) "stretch out," cognate with Old English reccan "tplungelate 14c., plungen, "to put, throw, or thrust violently into; immerse, submerge," also intransitive, from Old French plongier "plunge, sink into; plunge into, dive in" (mid-12c., Modern French plonger), from Vulgar Latin *plumbicare "to heave the lead," from Latin plumbum "lead"

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/-meterCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/-meter">Etymology of -meter by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of -meter. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved March 10, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/-meterCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of -meter," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed March 10, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-meter.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of -meter." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-meter. Accessed 10 March, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of -meter." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/-meter (accessed March 10, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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