altimeter

noun

al·​tim·​e·​ter al-ˈti-mə-tər  ˈal-tə-ˌmē-tər 

: an instrument for measuring altitude

especially : an aneroid barometer designed to register changes in atmospheric pressure accompanying changes in altitude

altimetry

al-ˈti-mə-trē 

noun

Examples of altimeter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The obvious route would be location data through a connected phone or Wi-Fi network, as there’s no altimeter onboard that could recognize the effects of cabin pressurization. —Andrew Williams, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025

That generation of Black Hawks typically has two types of altimeters — one relying on barometric pressure and the other on radio frequency signals bounced off the ground. —Gary Fields, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2025

Long before the advent of advanced geodetic buoy systems, altimeters and satellites, our ancestors took a credible stab at defining a global mean sea level. —Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025

But Intuitive Machines largely succeeded, putting its Odysseus lander on the Moon, albeit sideways, after its altimeter failed. —Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from Latin altus "high" + -i- -i- + New Latin -meter -meter — more at altitude

Note: The word altimeter appears in the word lists of early Latin-English dictionaries, as the 1572 edition of Richard Huloet's dictionary and the 1578 edition of Thomas Cooper's Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae (defined as "an instrument wherwith high things are mette"). These entries all appear to derive from versions of Papias' Latin dictionary Elementarium doctrinae rudimentum, composed in the 11th century, but reedited and expanded many times; the 1485 Venice edition enters "altimeter quo metiuntur altitudines - quoddam instrumentum est" ("altimeter by which heights are measured; it is a certain instrument"). Cf. New Latin scala altimetra, with vernacular equivalents, as Middle French eschelle altimetre, applied to the graduated scale of various instruments for measuring angular distance above the horizon. As a word used in the early 20th century for instruments employing barometric pressure to measure altitude, the word may be a recoinage from Latin altus and -meter.

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for altimeter

• collimator
• delimiter
• dosimeter
• estimator
• lysimeter
• perimeter
• calorimeter
• colorimeter
• polarimeter
• limiter

Kids Definition

altimeter

noun

al·​tim·​e·​ter al-ˈtim-ət-ər  ˈal-tə-ˌmēt-ər 

: an instrument for measuring altitude

especially : a barometer that registers changes in atmospheric pressure accompanying changes in altitude