audiometer

noun

au·di·om·e·ter ˌȯ-dē-ˈä-mə-tər

: an instrument used in measuring the acuity of hearing

audiometric

ˌȯ-dē-ō-ˈme-trik

adjective

audiometry

ˌȯ-dē-ˈä-mə-trē

noun

Examples of audiometer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

In 1987 Nielsen launched their own People Meter sample of 2,000 households replacing their audiometer/diary methodology. —

Brad Adgate, Forbes, 1 Sep. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Latin audī-, stem of audīre "to hear" + -o- + -meter — more at audible entry 1

Note: The word audiometer was used for a device developed by the British inventor David Edward Hughes (1831-1900), described by him in "On an Inductions-Current Balance, and Experimental Researches made therewith," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, no. 196, May 15, 1879, vol. 29, pp. 56-65. Though the word is used by Hughes (p. 58), it was coined by the British physician Benjamin Ward Richardson (1828-96), who concludes a report following Hughes' article in the same journal ("Some Researches with Professor Hughes' New Instrument for the Measurement of Hearing; the Audiometer," pp. 65-70) with the following: "… the world of science … is under a deep debt of gratitude to Professor Hughes for his simple and beautiful instrument, which I have christened the audimeter, or less correctly but more euphoniously, the audiometer." Presumably Richardson felt that -i- was a more Latinate linking vowel than -o- following a Latin element, though the precedents in classical Latin for 4th-conjugation verbs in compounds are limited (but cf. the derivatives fulcīmen, fulcīmentum "prop, support" from fulcīre "to support" and the hapax in Petronius fulcipedia—with -ī-?—"one supported by a foot"). But -o- as a universal linking element in Greco-Latin compounds was most likely becoming general usage in the 19th century.

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of audiometer was in 1879

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Audiometer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/audiometer. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

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Kids Definition

audiometer

noun

au·di·om·e·ter ˌȯd-ē-ˈäm-ət-ər

: an instrument used to measure the keenness of hearing

audiometric

ˌȯd-ē-ō-ˈme-trik

adjective

audiometry

ˌȯd-ē-ˈäm-ə-trē

noun

Medical Definition

audiometer

noun

au·di·om·e·ter ˌȯd-ē-ˈäm-ət-ər

: an instrument used in measuring the acuity of hearing

called also acoumeter

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audiometer

noun

Examples of audiometer in a Sentence

Word History

Dictionary Entries Near audiometer

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

Medical Definition