Urometer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A specialized device employed for determining the volume of liquids in a specific environment
2. A measurement instrument focused on quantifying the amount of fluid present in a given container
3. An instrument designed to assess the quantity of liquid within a particular reservoir

Etymology: "Urometer" is a plain technical compound, built from two combining forms with classical Greek roots. The first part, "uro-", comes from Greek "ouron", meaning urine, and it appears in medical terms such as urology and urinalysis. The second part, "-meter", comes from Greek "metron", meaning measure, and it is the same ending found in thermometer or barometer. Put together, the name describes exactly what the instrument does: it measures urine. The word is a modern coinage of the kind physicians and laboratory workers have long favoured, assembling Greek parts into a precise name for a specific device. Its meaning is literal from start to finish, with no shift in sense from the original roots.