A thermometer calibrated in accordance with the Celsius scale.
Celsius described a scale in which 0 was the boiling point of water and 100 the freezing point (Observationer om twänne beständiga Grader på en Thermometer (1742)): this is the inverse of the scale subsequently called the Celsius scale. Linnaeus used a thermometer calibrated with 0 as the freezing point and 100 as the boiling point (Hortus Upsaliensis (1745) 16 Dec.).Prior to Celsius, a thermometric scale of 100 degrees had been proposed by P. Elvius (Dissertatio physico-mechanica de thermometris (1710) vii. 35)..
Origin
Late 18th century; earliest use found in Richard Pulteney (1730–1801), botanist and physician.