Pycnometer
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A vessel of precisely known volume used by weighing to determine the specific gravity or relative density of a liquid.
"As Galileo showed in his tract La Bilancetta, or “The Little Balance,” a scientist of Archimedes’ stature could have achieved a far more precise result using his own law of buoyancy and an accurate scale, something far more common in the ancient world than a very precise pycnometer, which is used to measure displacement."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"As Galileo showed in his tract La Bilancetta, or “The Little Balance,” a scientist of Archimedes’ stature could have achieved a far more precise result using his own law of buoyancy and an accurate scale, something far more common in the ancient world than a very precise pycnometer, which is used to measure displacement."
Etymology
From Ancient Greek πυκνός (puknós, “dense”) and μέτρον (métron, “measure”). By surface analysis, pycno- + -meter.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.