Wattmeters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Instruments used to measure the electrical power in watts by monitoring both voltage and current
2. Devices that calculate power consumption in electrical circuits by analyzing the flow of electricity
3. Tools designed to display the amount of energy used over time by quantifying the wattage in a system

Etymology: A wattmeter is a plural form, so the key history lies in its two parts. The first, "watt," is named after James Watt, the Scottish engineer whose improvements to the steam engine made him a central figure of the industrial age. The unit was named in his honour, and the word came into use in the electrical sense to measure power, the rate at which energy is transferred. The second part, "-meter," comes from the Ancient Greek "métron," meaning "measure." It passed into Latin and then French as "-mètre," and English borrowed it as "-meter." Greek also gave the suffix "-tron," an instrument or means, which lies behind the Greek word itself. The combination of a measure and a unit yields a device that measures watts.

Synonyms: power meter, electricity meter, energy meter, watt-hour meter, kWh meter