sillometer

sillometer noun: a 19th-century device for measuring the speed of a ship without using a log-line.

Noun

sillometer (plural sillometers)

(historical) A 19th-century device for measuring the speed of a ship without using a log-line.
- It is moved by a paddle, that may be placed under the keel at will, and is supported by a plug sliding in a tube like that of the sillometer, but turning with the paddle and the rod.1842, Year Book of Facts in Science and Art, page 42
- The sillometer has a dial upon deck which constantly shews the number of miles per hour that the vessel is going; consequently it is easy to discover, under all circumstances, what is the best trim of the vessel, and the most advantageous quantity and distribution of the sail for obtaining the...1842, The Polytechnic Journal, page 387

The speed, as shown by the sillometer, varied from 8.1 to 8.2 miles per hour.1843, The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal - Volume 6, page 29:
Clement's Sillometer, and Marine and Steam Thermometers.1843, Charles W. Vincent, James Mason, The Year-book of Facts in Science and Art, page 87:

plural	sillometers

Borrowed from French siller (“to make way”) + -meter.

What does sillometer mean?: Sillometer means a 19th-century device for measuring the speed of a ship without using a log-line.
How do you use sillometer in a sentence?: The speed, as shown by the sillometer, varied from 8.1 to 8.2 miles per hour.
What part of speech is sillometer?: Sillometer is a noun.
What is the plural of sillometer?: The plural of sillometer is sillometers.

Adapted from Wiktionary: sillometer (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “sillometer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sillometer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.