altimeter

noun

al·​tim·​e·​ter al-ˈti-mə-tər  ˈal-tə-ˌmē-tər 

: an instrument for measuring altitude

especially : an aneroid barometer designed to register changes in atmospheric pressure accompanying changes in altitude

altimetry

al-ˈti-mə-trē 

noun

Examples of altimeter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s this guy who was there for both explosions, who rigged the altimeter on the two bombs and had to be in both planes. —Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 27 June 2025

Those remarks suggested the pilots were spending too much time and energy looking outside of the cockpit and not enough looking at their instruments, namely the three altimeters that would have indicated to them exactly how far above the ground the plane was flying. —Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 27 Apr. 2025

Traditional altimeters scan only narrow strips of ocean surface directly beneath the spacecraft, often missing brief or localized phenomena. —Jenny Lehmann, Discover Magazine, 4 June 2025

The Suunto Run has a compass, an altimeter, and supports limited route navigation. —Andrew Williams, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from Latin altus "high" + -i- -i- + New Latin -meter -meter — more at altitude

Note: The word altimeter appears in the word lists of early Latin-English dictionaries, as the 1572 edition of Richard Huloet's dictionary and the 1578 edition of Thomas Cooper's Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae (defined as "an instrument wherwith high things are mette"). These entries all appear to derive from versions of Papias' Latin dictionary Elementarium doctrinae rudimentum, composed in the 11th century, but reedited and expanded many times; the 1485 Venice edition enters "altimeter quo metiuntur altitudines - quoddam instrumentum est" ("altimeter by which heights are measured; it is a certain instrument"). Cf. New Latin scala altimetra, with vernacular equivalents, as Middle French eschelle altimetre, applied to the graduated scale of various instruments for measuring angular distance above the horizon. As a word used in the early 20th century for instruments employing barometric pressure to measure altitude, the word may be a recoinage from Latin altus and -meter.

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for altimeter

• collimator
• delimiter
• dosimeter
• estimator
• lysimeter
• perimeter
• calorimeter
• colorimeter
• polarimeter
• limiter

Kids Definition

altimeter

noun

al·​tim·​e·​ter al-ˈtim-ət-ər  ˈal-tə-ˌmēt-ər 

: an instrument for measuring altitude

especially : a barometer that registers changes in atmospheric pressure accompanying changes in altitude