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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Seismometer

Seismometer \Seis*mom"e*ter\, n. [Gr. ??? an earthquake + -meter.] (Physics) An instrument for measuring the direction, duration, and force of earthquakes and like concussions.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
seismometer

"instrument for measuring the intensity and motion of earthquakes," 1841, from seismo- + -meter. Originally different from a seismograph but now practically the same thing.

Wiktionary
seismometer

n. (context geology English) A device used by seismologists to detect and measure seismic waves and therefore locate earthquakes etc; a seismograph.

Wikipedia
Seismometer

Seismometers are instruments that measure motion of the ground, including those of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other seismic sources. Records of seismic waves allow seismologists to map the interior of the Earth, and locate and measure the size of these different sources.

The word derives from the Greek σεισμός, seismós, a shaking or quake, from the verb σείω, seíō, to shake; and μέτρον, métron, measure and was coined by David Milne-Home in 1841, to describe an instrument designed by Scottish physicist James David Forbes.

Seismograph is another Greek term from seismós and γράφω, gráphō, to draw. It is often used to mean seismometer, though it is more applicable to the older instruments in which the measuring and recording of ground motion were combined than to modern systems, in which these functions are separated. Both types provide a continuous record of ground motion; this distinguishes them from seismoscopes, which merely indicate that motion has occurred, perhaps with some simple measure of how large it was.

The concerning technical discipline is called seismometry, a branch of seismology.

Usage examples of "seismometer".

Apollo lunar seismometers have found that moonquakes are most common during lunar perigee, when the Earth is closest to the Moon, and there are at least some hints of earthquakes at the same time.

The hardbody sonar array, the seismometers, tomographic systems, and the proton magnetometers must be assembled before work begins.

Here was the seismometer, like a paint can on top of a silver drop cloth.

With relief, he set down his seismometers and miniaturized cospec and pyrometers, tiltmeters and cameras, and connected them up via a laptop pc to a satellite transponder.