Callipers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A device used to measure the width or diameter of an object consists of two adjustable arms that can be opened or closed to obtain precise measurements
2. An instrument with two movable legs used to gauge the size or distance between opposite sides of an object
3. A tool featuring adjustable arms designed to determine measurements such as thickness or diameter by fitting around or across an item

Etymology: "Callipers" is simply another spelling of "calipers," and the device it names got its name through a corruption of "caliber." The older word traces back to the Arabic-influenced Mediterranean trade in measuring devices and to the Latin "qualis" ("of what kind"), but the instrument's name itself came from the notion of measuring the bore of a gun. Over time the spelling "caliber" shifted in use, and the tool's name was reshaped by people's habits of pronunciation and spelling until the familiar form emerged. The word's surprise lies in its change of sense: a term for the inner diameter of a firearm barrel was applied to a hinged instrument that measures the outside or inside width of almost anything, from engineering parts to fossils. The tool in this case took on a name from a measurement it was designed to find, and the double spelling "callipers" reflects one of the many ways English spelling has drifted around a single word.

Synonyms: calipers