What does audiometric mean?
Audiometric is a technical adjective meaning relating to the measurement of hearing. It derives from the field of audiometry, the science of assessing hearing acuity using an instrument called an audiometer, which plays tones at controlled frequencies and volumes to determine what a person can detect. The term appears most often in clinical and occupational-health settings: phrases such as "audiometric testing," "audiometric evaluation," and "audiometric thresholds" are standard in workplace safety regulations, particularly those governing noise exposure, where employers must monitor workers' hearing over time. An audiometric exam produces an audiogram, a chart mapping hearing sensitivity across frequencies for each ear. Because the word belongs to specialized medical and scientific registers, it rarely surfaces in casual speech, but within audiology it is indispensable, serving as the standard modifier for any test, instrument, booth, or dataset concerned with quantifying how well someone hears.
adjectiveRelating to the measurement of hearing acuity, especially by means of an instrument called an audiometer; of or pertaining to audiometry.
- Relating to or used in the measurement of hearing acuity (audiometry), typically via an audiometer.
"The clinic requires annual audiometric testing for all employees exposed to high noise levels."
"Baseline audiometric assessments are conducted before workers begin employment in noisy environments."
"The study compared audiometric results across three decades to track population-wide hearing loss."
Every factory worker who gets their ears checked owes it to a device whose name literally means 'hearing measurement' — coined from two ancient languages in a single sitting.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of audiometric
Audiometric combines the Latin root "audio-" ("I hear") with the Greek-derived combining form "-metric," from "metron" ("measure"). The compound was formed alongside its parent terms audiometry and audiometer, which emerged in the late nineteenth century as instruments for measuring hearing were developed. The "-metric" element links it to a wide family of measuring words such as thermometer, barometer, and geometry, all tracing back to the same Greek root.
Related word forms
How audiometric is actually used
A technical term used almost exclusively in audiology, occupational health, and medical contexts. It is nearly always found attributively (before a noun), as in "audiometric booth" or "audiometric data." Not used in everyday conversation.
Easily confused with audiometric
"Auditory" refers broadly to anything related to the sense or organs of hearing, while "audiometric" specifically describes things connected to the measurement or testing of hearing.