pedometer
UK /pɪˈdɒmətə/ · US /pɪˈdɑmətɚ/ noun
Forms pedometers
- noun A device, often electronic, that measures the number of steps taken, and thus estimates the distance walked. “He thought that buying a pedometer would spur him on to exercise.”
Etymology
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, from French pédomètre, from pedi-, combining form for Latin pēs (“foot”), plus -ometer, from Greek. In French now the word is podomètre, and similar in other Romance languages and in Greek (ποδόμετρο (podómetro)). By surface analysis, pedo- (“foot”) + -meter = pedo- + -ometer.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An instrument for including the number of steps in walking, and so ascertaining the distance passed over. It is usually in the form of a watch; an oscillating weight by the motion of the body causes the index to advance a certain distance at each step.
Etymology [Pedi-, pedo- + -meter: cf. F. pédomètre.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pedometer”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details