Voltmeter

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈvoʊltˌmitɚ/

Definitions

1. A measuring tool that assesses the electric potential difference between two circuit points
2. A device employed for quantifying voltage differences across specified locations within an electrical system
3. An instrument designed to measure the voltage between two points in an electrical circuit

Etymology: The name is a compound of two parts with separate histories. "Volt" honours Alessandro Volta, the Italian physicist whose work on electricity in the late 1790s led to the first electric battery, and the unit was named after him in his honour. The second part, "-meter," comes from the Ancient Greek "métron," meaning "measure," which gave English a long line of instrument names such as thermometer and barometer. "Meter" reached English through French "mètre," and the suffix "-meter" was attached to words for measuring devices, so "voltmeter" simply means a meter that measures volts. The word is a straightforward modern coinage built from a person's name and a classical element, not an ancient term.

Synonyms: voltage meter, volt meter