Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “speedometer” come from?

Speedometer comes from English speed and Ancient Greek μέτρον, combining the Proto-Indo-European root speh₁- meaning "to thrive or prosper" with the instrumental suffix -trom.

speedometer (English): A device that measures, and indicates the current...

Definitions

  1. A device that measures, and indicates the current...

Ancestry of “speedometer”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-meterUsed to form the names of measuring devices
2Frenchmètremetre/meter; first-person singular present...
3Latinmetruma measure
4Ancient Greekμέτρονsomething used to measure: measure, rule, weight;...
5Ancient Greek-τρονForms instrument nouns
6Proto-Hellenic-tronForms instrument nouns from verb stems
7Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
8Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “speedometer”

  • speedo
  • სპიდომეტრი
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →