What does anemometer mean?
An anemometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the speed of wind or other gas flows. The classic design features three or four hemispherical cups mounted on horizontal arms around a vertical axis; as the wind blows, the cups rotate, and the rate of spin is converted into a wind-speed reading. Other designs include vane anemometers, hot-wire instruments sensitive to fine airflow, and ultrasonic devices with no moving parts. Anemometers are essential to meteorology, appearing on weather stations, ships, airports, and wind turbines, where they help forecasters, pilots, and engineers assess conditions and safety. The word derives from the Greek 'anemos', meaning wind, combined with 'metron', meaning measure, so it literally signifies a wind-measuring device. Though technical in flavor, the term appears regularly in weather reports and news coverage of storms, making it one of the more familiar specialist instruments in everyday language.
nounAn instrument for measuring the speed of the wind or of a gas flow. The most common type uses rotating cups that spin at a rate proportional to wind speed.
- An instrument that measures wind speed, most commonly using rotating cups or vanes.
- More broadly, any device measuring the velocity of gas flow in applications such as ventilation ducts or aircraft airspeed systems.
"The weather station's anemometer recorded gusts of over ninety miles per hour during the storm."
"Technicians climbed the mast to repair the anemometer before the hurricane made landfall."
"In the laboratory, a hot-wire anemometer measured the turbulent airflow inside the wind tunnel."
Regular English plural; used when referring to multiple instruments across stations or sites.
"The network's coastal anemometers all reported readings above fifty knots during the gale."
The word comes from the Greek 'anemos' — wind — making it literally a 'wind measurer', and its spinning cups have been clocking breezes since the 1840s.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of anemometer
The word 'anemometer' derives from the Greek 'anemos' (wind) combined with '-meter' from 'metron' (measure). It entered English usage in the early eighteenth century, when natural philosophers were developing reliable instruments for quantifying wind force. It shares its Greek root 'anemos' with words such as 'anemone', whose name was linked by the ancients to flowers believed to open when the wind blew.
How anemometer is actually used
A technical but widely understood term in meteorology and engineering; used in both formal scientific writing and everyday weather reporting.
Easily confused with anemometer
A barometer measures atmospheric pressure, whereas an anemometer measures wind speed.
An anemone is a flower (or sea creature) sharing the same Greek root for wind, while an anemometer is a measuring instrument.