chronometer

noun

chro·​nom·​e·​ter krə-ˈnä-mə-tər 

plural chronometers

: timepiece

I don't know about you, but by the time the short fat hand of my analog chronometer is on the six, I'm about ready to take the rest of the day off.

—Stanley Bing

especially : one designed to keep time with great accuracy despite external forces

Self-educated English clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776) found the answer by inventing a chronometer—a friction-free timepiece, impervious to pitch and roll, temperature and humidity—that would carry the true time from the home port to any destination.

—Genevieve Stuttaford

Synonyms of chronometer

• clock

Examples of chronometer in a Sentence

a fancy new chronometer that is light-years more advanced than your average wristwatch

Recent Examples on the Web

The result is that watches displaying only hours and minutes can now meet the criteria for both chronometer and master chronometer certification, a category previously limited to timepieces with a central seconds display. —Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2026

The stars symbolized two chronometer records and six first-place precision awards that Omega earned between 1933 and 1952, the year the Constellation launched. —Jeremy White, Wired News, 26 Mar. 2026

Making use of a patented new mechanism, the Day-Date was the world’s first automatic chronometer featuring both the day of the week spelled out in full as well as the date on the dial. —Oren Hartov, Robb Report, 25 Feb. 2026

As time-telling became more precise, ship navigators needed a standardized way to set their chronometers. —Jack Guy, CNN Money, 31 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

chrono- + -meter

Note: Apparently first used in English by the clergyman and natural philosopher William Derham (1657-1735) in Physico-Theology; or a Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation (London, 1714); see Wolfgang Köberer, "On the First Use of the Term 'Chronometer'," The Mariner's Mirror, vol. 106, no. 2 (2016), pp. 203-06. In French chronomètre was used for a metronome-like device by the musician and pedagogue Étienne Loulié in Elements ou principes de musique (Paris, 1696).

First Known Use

circa 1676, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chronometer

• barometer
• bolometer
• geometer
• hydrometer
• hygrometer
• kilometer
• micrometer
• odometer
• photometer
• psychrometer
• pycnometer
• pyrometer

Kids Definition

chronometer

noun

chro·​nom·​e·​ter krə-ˈnäm-ət-ər 

: an instrument for measuring time

especially : one intended to keep time with great exactness

chronometric

ˌkrän-ə-ˈme-trik, 

ˌkrō-nə-

adjective

also chronometrical

-tri-kəl

Medical Definition

chronometer

noun

chro·​nom·​e·​ter krə-ˈnäm-ət-ər 

: an instrument for measuring time

especially : one designed to keep time with great accuracy