Etymograph

English

tromometer

Tromometer comes from Ancient Greek τρόμος ‘a trembling’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *trem-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*trem-1‘to tremble’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*trémō2reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτρέμω1‘to tremble in fear’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEτρόμος3trómos‘a trembling’
  5. Englishtodaytromometer3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τρόμος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τρέμω
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English tromometer

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*trem-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τρόμος‘to tremble’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*trémōWiktionary, Ancient Greek τρέμωreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτρέμωWiktionary, Ancient Greek τρόμος‘to tremble in fear’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEτρόμοςWiktionary, English tromometertrómos‘a trembling’
  5. EnglishtodaytromometerWiktionary, English tromometer

Formed from -meter

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *trem- ‘to tremble’

tremendous, tremble, tremor, tremolo, tremulous, 7 more

Today it means

noun An instrument for measuring slight earthquake shocks.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tromometer”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek τρόμος, Ancient Greek τρέμω. 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 *trem- / tromometer

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