flowmeter
|flow-mi-ter|
🇺🇸
/ˈfloʊˌmiːtər/
🇬🇧
/ˈfləʊˌmiːtə/
device that measures flow
Etymology
'flowmeter' originates from English, specifically a compound of 'flow' and 'meter'; 'flow' comes from Old English 'flowan' meaning 'to flow', and 'meter' comes from Greek 'metron' meaning 'measure'.
'meter' changed from Greek 'metron' to Latin 'metrum', passed into Old French/Latin-derived forms and Middle English as 'meter', and in modern English it combined with 'flow' to form the compound 'flowmeter' (often attested in technical usage from the 19th–20th century onward).
Initially it referred to any instrument for measuring flow; over time the term has remained stable and now commonly denotes specific industrial instruments for measuring fluid or gas flow rates.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an instrument that measures the rate of flow (volume or mass per unit time) of a liquid or gas in a pipe or channel.
The engineer installed a new flowmeter on the pipeline to monitor water usage.
Synonyms
Noun 2
a device used in industrial or laboratory settings to measure and sometimes record or control fluid flow (e.g., turbine flowmeter, electromagnetic flowmeter).
The chemical plant uses several types of flowmeters to ensure accurate dosing of reactants.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/09/30 01:38