Where does “barometer” come from?
Barometer comes from Ancient Greek βαρύς meaning heavy combined with Ancient Greek μέτρον meaning measure, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots for weight and the agent suffix -tḗr.
barometer (English): An instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure;...
Definitions
- An instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure;...
Ancestry of “barometer”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -meter | Used to form the names of measuring devices |
| 2 | French | mètre | metre/meter; first-person singular present... |
| 3 | Latin | metrum | a measure |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |