Orloge

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a mechanical device that measures and displays the passing of time, once used in medieval and early modern English
2. A old-fashioned name for a clock, especially one used in earlier centuries to mark the hours of the day
3. Obsolete word for a timepiece or clock, the type of instrument that tells the hour by mechanical or other means

Etymology: The word comes from Greek "hōrologion," a compound of "hōra," meaning "hour," and "legein," meaning "to tell" or "to say." A "hōrologion" was a device that told the hours. Latin borrowed it as "horologium," and Old French reshaped it into "horloge," the form that gave English its version. English adopted the term in the Middle English period, when it was the usual word for a mechanical timekeeper. Geoffrey Chaucer used it in his writing, so the word was clearly familiar to his readers. Over the following centuries it fell out of use as "clock" took over the role. Its spelling also shifted: "orloge" is the Middle English form, and the modern "horologe" and "horology" preserve the Greek-derived shape more closely.

Synonyms: clock, timepiece, horologe