Timer

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈtaɪmɚ/

Definitions

1. A device that counts time intervals for tasks, displaying the elapsed duration, and helps schedule or monitor periods of activity
2. An instrument designed to measure and signal the passage of specified time periods, often used to coordinate events or control processes
3. A mechanism that tracks time increments and activates a response after a preset duration, commonly employed in cooking or scientific experiments

Etymology: The word "timer" is one of those English formations that looks like a stock suffix on an old root, and that is essentially all it is. The root is "time," which reached English through Old English "tīma," itself descended from a Proto-Germanic form, while the ending "-er" came into English through Old French from Latin "-ārius," an agentive and occupational suffix that English used for countless words like "baker" and "miner." The suffix is what carries the meaning. Attached to "time," it produces a word for something that does the timing, whether a person who keeps track of races or a device that measures intervals. Its two possible sources, a verb "to time" and a noun "time" plus the measurement sense of "-er," mean the formation is transparent: a device that times things.

Synonyms: clock, stopwatch, chronometer