chronometern.
/krə(ʊ)ˈnɒmɪtə//krɒˈnɒmɪtə/ 1.
a. An instrument for measuring time; spec. applied to time-keepers adjusted to keep accurate time in all variations of temperature. They differ from watches in having a more perfect escapement and a compensation balance, and are used for determining longitude at sea, and for other exact observation.Some watches are named half-chronometers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > [noun] > chronometer
longitude1665
longitude watch1670
chronometer1714
sea-watch1768
watch1778
box chronometer1789
oligochronometer1857
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [noun] > chronometer
chronometer1714
sea-watch1768
1714 W. Derham Physico-theol. (ed. 2) i. iv. 28 According to my own Observations made with..a very accurate Pendulum Chronometer.
1780 J. Arnold (title) Account..of a Pocket Chronometer, made on a new construction.
1786 J. Bonnycastle Introd. Astron. 155 Method for finding the longitude of places..by means of a chronometer.
1812 R. Woodhouse Elem. Treat. Astron. viii. 49 The time of the transit is to be marked by a clock or chronometer.
1855 R. W. Emerson Fort. Repub. in Wks. (1906) III. 387 The sailors sail by chronometers that do not lose two or three seconds in a year.
b. transferred and figurative. ‘Time-measurer’.
ΚΠ
1836 N. Wiseman 12 Lect. Sci. & Relig. I. vi. 360 Deluc was the first..to observe and collect such data, to which he gave the name of Chronometers.
1872 J. Yeats Techn. Hist. Commerce 190 Sun and stars, whose rising and setting formed the grand chronometer of Nature.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > [noun] > metronome
plexichronometer1786
metronome1816
chronometer1837
plummet1844
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > tempo > [noun] > metronome
metrometer1769
plexichronometer1786
rhythmometer1812
metronome1816
chronometer1837
plummet1844
accentuator?1845
M1904
1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 135/2 The musical chronometer is by no means a modern contrivance.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
chronometer-balance n.
chronometer-box n.
ΚΠ
1878 A. H. Markham Great Frozen Sea v. 63 A chronometer-box was picked up, but empty.
chronometer-maker n.
ΚΠ
1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 135/2 The most eminent chronometer-makers in this country.
C2.
chronometer-escapement n. an escapement in which the free movement of the balance is opposed by the wheels at only one point in a complete oscillation.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 548/1 The chronometer escapement..is the most perfect, delicate, and satisfactory in its operation, of all the escapements.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1714