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chronometer

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Etymology and origin of the English word chronometer

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1714 William Derham, Physico-theology More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek χρόνος,μέτρον

Pronunciation

  • UK: /kɹəˈnɒm.ə.tə(ɹ)/[1]
  • Australia: /kɹəˈnɔm.ə.tə(ɹ)/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English chrono- + -meter,[2][3][4][5] the first part from Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos, “time”)[6][7][8] and the second from μέτρον (métron, “measure”).[7][8] Compare French chronomètre, recorded in 1701.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An instrument for measuring time: 1714, in the second edition of William Derham's Physico-theology.[6] The 1989 edition of the OED dated it 1715,[9] Dictionary.com gives 1705–15,[3] and Etymonline and Merriam-Webster about 1735.[4][5] Johnson (1755) quoted Derham on a "pendulum chronometer" used to time a bullet.[8]

Semantic evolution

From any instrument that measures time, the word was narrowed to time-keepers adjusted to keep accurate time in all temperatures,[6][4] used at sea to find the longitude by astronomical observation.[2][10] Smyth's Sailor's Word-Book (1867) describes it as a valuable timepiece with a compensation balance, used by navigators.[10] It was used figuratively for a measurer of time from 1836.[6] In music it briefly meant a metronome: the OED has one record, from 1837, while the Shorter Oxford dates the sense from the early 18th to the mid-19th century.[6][2]

Timeline

  • 1714 – an instrument for measuring time.[6]
  • 1836 – figurative, a measurer of time.[6]
  • 1837 – in music, a metronome (obsolete).[6]
  • 1878 – attributive use.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A timepiece built to keep very accurate time in all conditions of temperature and pressure, used especially at sea to find longitude.[11][5][2]
  2. Any instrument for measuring time.[5][6]
  3. (obsolete) In music, a metronome.[6][2]

Word family

  • chronometric
  • chronometrically
  • chronometry
  • metronome

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ a b Smyth, W. H. (1867), The Sailor's Word-Book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, London: Blackie and Son
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Chronometer.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/chronometer. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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