Audiometer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tool utilized for assessing auditory perception by delivering sound at varying frequencies and intensities
2. An apparatus aimed at determining an individual's hearing threshold by presenting a range of auditory stimuli
3. A device used in audiology to evaluate hearing ability by emitting sounds of different pitches and volumes

Etymology: "Audiometer" is a plain technical compound built from two existing building blocks: "audio-", from Latin "audire" meaning "to hear," and "-meter," from Greek "metron," meaning "measure." Put together, the name describes exactly what the device does: it measures hearing. The "-meter" element is the same one found in thermometer, speedometer and barometer, which is why the word sounds so familiar even to people who have never encountered it before. "Audio-" entered English as a combining form and today appears in words such as audiology, audiophile and audiobook, each adding the idea of sound or hearing to a different base.