-ometercomb. form

Primary stress is attracted to the first syllable of this combining form and vowels may be reduced accordingly; see e.g. curvometer n..

Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: barometer n., micrometer n.

Etymology: < -ometer (in barometer n., micrometer n., etc.); compare -o- connective and -meter comb. form².Formations with Latin and Greek initial elements (which are not loanwords from these languages) occur in the latter part of the 18th cent. as adaptations of French words, see gasometer n. and compare pluviometer n. Such formations become common in the first half of the 19th cent., e.g. inclinometer n., piezometer n., spirometer n. Several are immediately from French, e.g. (in the early 19th cent.) bdellometer n., udometer n. and (in the later 19th cent.) diagometer n., pachometer n. Formations with classical first elements reach their peak in the latter half of the 19th cent., important examples being audiometer n., extensometer n., potentiometer n., and respirometer n. In the 20th cent. there are few, e.g. transmissometer n. The earliest formation with an English initial element is the humorous word passionometer n. (mid 18th cent.); this is succeeded in the 19th cent. by a small number of similar rarely-used humorous words, e.g. foolometer n., obscenometer n. However, more serious formations of this kind become common in the 19th cent., e.g. (in the first half of the century) barkometer n., deflectometer n. (if this is not an example with a shortened first element: see below), roadometer n., and salinometer n., and (in the second half of the century) amperometer n., conductometer n., interferometer n., and reflectometer n. Since 1900 this has been the most usual method of forming such words: significant examples include (formed on noun first elements) mileometer n., speedometer n., and swingometer n., and (formed on adjectival first elements) drunkometer n., hardometer n., and tenderometer n. It is notable that from the mid 19th cent. it has been possible for the first element to be an adjective or verb as well as a noun. A frequent mode of formation has involved the shortening of the English first element (perhaps originally following French models: compare harmonometer n.), as in (early 19th cent.) scantlometer n. and (later 19th cent.) gradiometer n., illuminometer n., olfactometer n.; this has been especially prominent since 1900, e.g. in aggregometer n., densitometer n., diffractometer n., penetrometer n., and tensiometer n.

Forming nouns denoting technical and scientific instruments for automatically measuring something. Cf. -meter comb. form².

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online September 2019).

单词	-ometer
释义	-ometercomb. form Primary stress is attracted to the first syllable of this combining form and vowels may be reduced accordingly; see e.g. curvometer n.. Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: barometer n., micrometer n. Etymology: < -ometer (in barometer n., micrometer n., etc.); compare -o- connective and -meter comb. form².Formations with Latin and Greek initial elements (which are not loanwords from these languages) occur in the latter part of the 18th cent. as adaptations of French words, see gasometer n. and compare pluviometer n. Such formations become common in the first half of the 19th cent., e.g. inclinometer n., piezometer n., spirometer n. Several are immediately from French, e.g. (in the early 19th cent.) bdellometer n., udometer n. and (in the later 19th cent.) diagometer n., pachometer n. Formations with classical first elements reach their peak in the latter half of the 19th cent., important examples being audiometer n., extensometer n., potentiometer n., and respirometer n. In the 20th cent. there are few, e.g. transmissometer n. The earliest formation with an English initial element is the humorous word passionometer n. (mid 18th cent.); this is succeeded in the 19th cent. by a small number of similar rarely-used humorous words, e.g. foolometer n., obscenometer n. However, more serious formations of this kind become common in the 19th cent., e.g. (in the first half of the century) barkometer n., deflectometer n. (if this is not an example with a shortened first element: see below), roadometer n., and salinometer n., and (in the second half of the century) amperometer n., conductometer n., interferometer n., and reflectometer n. Since 1900 this has been the most usual method of forming such words: significant examples include (formed on noun first elements) mileometer n., speedometer n., and swingometer n., and (formed on adjectival first elements) drunkometer n., hardometer n., and tenderometer n. It is notable that from the mid 19th cent. it has been possible for the first element to be an adjective or verb as well as a noun. A frequent mode of formation has involved the shortening of the English first element (perhaps originally following French models: compare harmonometer n.), as in (early 19th cent.) scantlometer n. and (later 19th cent.) gradiometer n., illuminometer n., olfactometer n.; this has been especially prominent since 1900, e.g. in aggregometer n., densitometer n., diffractometer n., penetrometer n., and tensiometer n. Forming nouns denoting technical and scientific instruments for automatically measuring something. Cf. -meter comb. form². This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online September 2019). < comb. form
随便看	medullary medullary carcinoma medullary plate medullary ray medullary sheath medullas medullate medullated medullation medullin medulline medullispinal medullitis medulloblast medulloblastoma medulloblastomas medulloblastomata medullosa medullosan medullose medullosean medullous medus medusa medusa bud