Phrase guide

kata thermometer

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A device consisting principally of an alcohol thermometer, used to measure air cooling power and, indirectly, small wind speeds in circulating air, by measuring the time taken for the temperature of the bulb of alcohol to make a specified drop (100° to 95°F).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: measuring instrument

Examples

  • 1945, Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (Great Britain), The Building Services Engineer, Volume 13, page 90, Though the kata-thermometer was originally designed for measuring human comfort, it afterwards turned out to be far more useful as an anemometer.
  • 1953, Thomas Bedford, Thermal Factors in the Environment which Influence Fatigue, Alan Traviss Welford, Symposium on Fatigue and Symposium on Human Factors in Equipment Design, page 9, Leonard Hill (1914, 1919) introduced his kata thermometer for the measurement of the "cooling power" of the environment.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative spelling of kata thermometer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down”).