English
bolometer
Bolometer comes from Ancient Greek μέτρον ‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’, from βολή ‘a throw, the stroke’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-1‘to throw, reach, pierce’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnō1reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβᾰ́λλω1bắllō‘to throw, cast, hurl’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβολή1bolḗ‘a throw, the stroke’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέτρον1métron‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’
- Englishtodaybolometer1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English bolometer
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-Wiktionary, English bolometer‘to throw, reach, pierce’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnōWiktionary, English bolometerreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβᾰ́λλωWiktionary, English bolometerbắllō‘to throw, cast, hurl’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβολήWiktionary, English bolometerbolḗ‘a throw, the stroke’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμέτρονWiktionary, English bolometermétron‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’
- EnglishtodaybolometerWiktionary, English bolometer
The story
Coined by American physicist, pioneer of aviation, and 3rd Secretary of the Smithsonian Samuel Langley in 1878.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- ‘to throw, reach, pierce’
ball, symbolic, quail, quill, quell, obelisk, pul, symbolist, 63 more
through Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō
devil, symbol, emblem, parable, metabolic, hyperbolic, parabolic, embolism, anabolic, metabolize, hyperbola, 36 more
through Ancient Greek βᾰ́λλω ‘to throw, cast, hurl’
through Ancient Greek μέτρον ‘something used to measure: measure, rule, weight’
metric, metre, parameter, asymmetry, madder, metrology, metra, 43 more
Today it means
noun A sensitive device for detecting and measuring the energy of electromagnetic radiation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “bolometer”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- / bolometer