Etymograph

English

sillometer

Sillometer comes from French siller ‘to make way’.

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentsiller1‘to make way’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1842sillometer1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sillometer
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1842, Year Book of Facts in Science and Art: “It is moved by a paddle, that may be…”.

Lineage

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentsillerWiktionary, English sillometer‘to make way’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1842sillometerWiktionary, English sillometer. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1842, Year Book of Facts in Science and Art: “It is moved by a paddle, that may be…”

Formed from meter

Middle English metere ‘one who measures, measurer’

English meter

Every English word from French siller

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sillometer”. 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 / French siller / sillometer

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