Admeasurer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An official who measures land, goods or quantities and allots shares according to a legal standard
2. A person appointed to measure out and assign portions of something, such as land or dues, under legal authority
3. Someone charged with surveying, gauging or dividing property and allocating each party its lawful share

Etymology: Admeasurer is a plain formation: the verb "admeasure" with the agent suffix "-er" added to it, giving a word for one who measures out or apportions something. The verb itself came into English from Anglo-Norman and Old French, where "amesurer" meant to measure, and the prefix "ad-" (reflecting Latin "ad", "to") was added on top of the older "mesure" base, so the word carries a measuring idea twice over in its structure. The "-er" ending has a long pedigree. It descends from Latin "-arius", which denoted a person connected with a task or occupation, and it reached English as Old English "-ere" before the Middle English "-er" spelling took hold. That same suffix sits behind countless English agent nouns, from "baker" to "reader," so "admeasurer" is best seen as one more member of a large, productive family rather than a word with its own unusual history.

Synonyms: measurer, surveyor