tachometer

noun

ta·chom·e·ter ta-ˈkä-mə-tər

tə-

: a device for indicating speed of rotation

Did you know?

A tachometer is literally a "speed-measurer", since the Greek root tach- means "speed". This is clear in the names of the tachyon, a particle of matter that travels faster than the speed of light (if it actually exists, it's so fast that it's impossible to see with any instrument), and tachycardia, a medical condition in which the heart races uncontrollably. Since the speed that an auto tachometer measures is speed of rotation of the crankshaft, the numbers it reports are revolutions per minute, or rpm's.

Examples of tachometer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web They are clustered, Formula 1 style, around a large tachometer, with the relatively tiny speedometer relegated to the bottom right, where it's partly obscured by the Scorpio column switches. —

Ray Hutton, Car and Driver, 18 Aug. 2023 Three gauges normally found in front of a pilot in the cockpit are actually outside the plane on the wing – oil pressure, oil temperature and tachometer for speed. —

Marc Bona, cleveland, 18 Aug. 2023 That may have been more realism than anybody wants, but the gauges use the same typeface and rigorously recreate the 3D appearance of 1980s mechanical speedometers and tachometers. —

Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 29 July 2023 In the Si, the driver faces a gauge cluster with an analog speedometer and a digital tachometer to the left. —

Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, 14 Aug. 2023 The instrumentation is straightforward and beautiful, displaying clear, white needles and markers against black backgrounds with crimson at critical spots, like the tachometer. —

Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 2 Aug. 2023 The tachometer is dead center, a tell on the 911's priorities. —

Jeffrey G. Russell, Car and Driver, 28 July 2023 The speedometer and tachometer are round, side-by-side, non-digital, and easily read. —

David E. Davis Jr., Car and Driver, 16 May 2023 The Diablo is delightful on the go, the V-12 offering good torque and throttle response across its 9,000 rpm tachometer. —

Tim Stevens, Robb Report, 4 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tachometer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.