What does gasometer mean?
A gasometer is a large metal vessel used to store gas, especially the manufactured gas that supplied street lamps, factories, and homes before electric lighting became widespread. In modern British English, it is a familiar word for the large cylindrical structures that stand in old industrial districts, near railway stations, or beside former gasworks. These structures were designed to hold gas under changing pressure and release it into a distribution network. The word also has an older, technical sense referring to an instrument for measuring gas, which reflects its construction from gas and the Greek-derived measuring suffix -ometer. Today, a gasometer can sound like a piece of industrial history, but many surviving examples have been preserved or redeveloped as distinctive urban landmarks. It is a precise word for a gas-storage vessel, while gasholder is a closely related term especially common in Britain.
nounA gasometer is a large, usually cylindrical metal vessel used to store gas, especially manufactured town gas. Historically, the word also referred to an instrument for measuring the quantity of gas.
- A large, usually cylindrical vessel for storing gas, particularly gas manufactured for distribution through town-gas networks.
- Historically or technically, an instrument for measuring the quantity of gas.
"The old gasometer beside the station has been converted into a public garden."
"The gasometer was filled with gas during the day and emptied as nearby homes and businesses used it."
"This technical drawing shows how the early gasometer measured the volume of gas flowing through a pipe."
The standard plural of gasometer is gasometers.
"Several gasometers once stood beside the river."
Before electric lighting, Victorian cities stored manufactured gas in giant metal gasometers, creating landmarks that are now being transformed into new neighborhoods.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of gasometer
Gasometer is a compound of gas and -ometer, a combining form associated with Greek metron, meaning “measure.” The word was used in early modern English for an instrument that measured gas, reflecting the original sense of the compound. During the development of manufactured town-gas systems, the name was also applied to the large storage vessels that held gas before it entered distribution pipes. Its modern principal meaning is therefore the storage vessel rather than the older measuring instrument.
Related word forms
How gasometer is actually used
The word is especially common in British English, where gasholder is also widely used, and it is also understood in American English. The measuring-instrument sense is historical or technical rather than a common modern meaning.
Easily confused with gasometer
A gasholder is a tank or vessel for storing gas, so it is largely synonymous with gasometer, but gasholder is especially common in British English.