chronometer

noun

chro·​nom·​e·​ter krə-ˈnä-mə-tər How to pronounce chronometer (audio)
plural chronometers
: timepiece
I don't know about you, but by the time the short fat hand of my analog chronometer is on the six, I'm about ready to take the rest of the day off.Stanley Bing
especially : one designed to keep time with great accuracy despite external forces
Self-educated English clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776) found the answer by inventing a chronometer—a friction-free timepiece, impervious to pitch and roll, temperature and humidity—that would carry the true time from the home port to any destination. Genevieve Stuttaford

Examples of chronometer in a Sentence

a fancy new chronometer that is light-years more advanced than your average wristwatch
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.
The museum always had a section dedicated to the Hamilton Watch Company, including pocket watches, wristwatches, chronometers, desk clocks, and the first-ever electric watch. Anthony Demarco, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024 Fit with the caliber 215 PS, a manually wound chronometer with small seconds, the timepiece markes the first time in watchmaking history that C.O.S.C (Switzerland’s official chronometer certification bureau) and the Geneva Seal Authority issued a joint individual rating for a watch. Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 27 Oct. 2024 Nardin’s heritage in marine chronometers while continuing to push the envelope in modern horology. Matthew Catellier, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024 The current Chateau Nouvel Chronometer is a testament to this revival, notable for being the first Japanese watch to receive chronometer certification from the Besancon Observatory in France in the 21st century. Bhanu Chopra, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for chronometer 

Word History

Etymology

chrono- + -meter

Note: Apparently first used in English by the clergyman and natural philosopher William Derham (1657-1735) in Physico-Theology; or a Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation (London, 1714); see Wolfgang Köberer, "On the First Use of the Term 'Chronometer'," The Mariner's Mirror, vol. 106, no. 2 (2016), pp. 203-06. In French chronomètre was used for a metronome-like device by the musician and pedagogue Étienne Loulié in Elements ou principes de musique (Paris, 1696).

First Known Use

circa 1676, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chronometer was circa 1676

Dictionary Entries Near chronometer

Cite this Entry

“Chronometer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chronometer. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

chronometer

noun
chro·​nom·​e·​ter krə-ˈnäm-ət-ər How to pronounce chronometer (audio)
: an instrument for measuring time
especially : one intended to keep time with great exactness
chronometric
ˌkrän-ə-ˈme-trik
ˌkrō-nə-
adjective
also chronometrical
-tri-kəl

Medical Definition

chronometer

noun
chro·​nom·​e·​ter krə-ˈnäm-ət-ər How to pronounce chronometer (audio)
: an instrument for measuring time
especially : one designed to keep time with great accuracy

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