Amperemeter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tool employed for determining the electric current in a circuit by expressing it in amperes
2. A device used to measure the flow of electric charge in amperes within a circuit
3. An apparatus designed to indicate the amount of electrical current passing through a conductor

Etymology: Ampere is named after André-Marie Ampère, the French physicist who worked on the relationship between electricity and magnetism, and the unit of current bears his name. The second half of the word, "-meter," comes from Greek "metron," meaning "measure," which is why so many instruments built to measure something end in it, from thermometer to barometer. The compound is a simple piece of scientific naming: the unit, ampere, joined to the measuring suffix, meter. Its meaning is literal, with no shift in sense. An amperemeter is an apparatus that shows how much electrical current is flowing through a conductor, which is exactly what the name promises.