chronometer
/krə(ʊ)ˈnɒmɪtər/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.31 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A device for measuring time, particularly a precision mechanism for measuring time of day.
Example Sentences
- "A wristwatch costs $20; a chronometer costs $20,000."
- "The balances of all moveable time-keepers, the chronometer excepted, are prevented from vibrating beyond the proper arc by what is called bankings. The inferior escapements are very easily banked; a pin fixed in the balance, coming in contact with one or two studs, is sufficient for that purpose. […]"
- "The stock-in-trade of this old gentleman comprised chronometers, barometers, telescopes, compasses, charts, maps, sextants, quadrants, and specimens of every kind of instrument used in the working of a ship's course, or the keeping of a ship's reckoning, or the prosecuting of a ship's discoveries."
- "The sailors sail by chronometers that do not lose two or three seconds in a year, ever since [Isaac] Newton explained to Parliament that the way to improve navigation was to get good watches, and to offer public premiums for a better time-keeper than any then in use."
Etymology
From chrono- + -meter, possibly after the model of earlier French chronomètre (“metronome”), ultimately from Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos, “time”) + μέτρον (métron, “meter, measuring device”).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: chronomètre, χρόνος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /krə(ʊ)ˈnɒmɪtər/
- British English: /kɹəˈnɒm.ə.tə(ɹ)/