Anemometers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An instrument used to measure wind speed and direction, often employed in meteorology and aviation
2. A device that gauges airflow by monitoring the force of wind against a sail or other mechanism
3. A tool that indicates the velocity of air through the use of rotating blades or other sensors designed to capture wind movement

Etymology: Anemometers are the plural of "anemometer", and the word is built from two Greek parts. "Anemo-" comes from "anemos", the Greek word for wind, and "-meter" comes from "metron", meaning measure. Put together, the name simply means a measure of wind. The plural form is what you need for a common situation: a weather station usually runs several of these instruments at once, so the word appears most often in the plural. The shared root "anemos" also gave English "anemone", the flower named for the wind, and "-meter" appears in many other instrument names such as "thermometer" and "barometer".