English
bolometer
Bolometer comes from Ancient Greek μέτρον ‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’, from βολή ‘a throw, the stroke’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-‘to throw, reach, pierce’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβᾰ́λλωbắllō‘to throw, cast, hurl’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEβολήbolḗ‘a throw, the stroke’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμέτρονmétron‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’
- Englishtodaybolometer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-‘to throw, reach, pierce’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβᾰ́λλωbắllō‘to throw, cast, hurl’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEβολήbolḗ‘a throw, the stroke’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEμέτρονmétron‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’
- Englishtodaybolometer
The story
Coined by American physicist, pioneer of aviation, and 3rd Secretary of the Smithsonian Samuel Langley in 1878.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- ‘to throw, reach, pierce’
ball, symbolic, quail, quill, quell, obelisk, pul, symbolist, 63 more
through Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō
devil, symbol, emblem, parable, metabolic, hyperbolic, parabolic, embolism, anabolic, metabolize, hyperbola, 36 more
through Ancient Greek βᾰ́λλω ‘to throw, cast, hurl’
through Ancient Greek μέτρον ‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’
metric, metre, parameter, asymmetry, madder, metrology, metra, 43 more
Today it means
noun A sensitive device for detecting and measuring the energy of electromagnetic radiation.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- / bolometer