Standard Lemma guide

spectrophotometer

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.

  • rhymes with -ɒmɪtə(ɹ)
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a photometer for comparing two light radiations wavelength by wavelength

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: photometer

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti Proto-Italic *spekjō Latin speciō Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-trom Proto-Italic *-trom Latin -trum Latin spectrumbor. English spectrum English spectro- Proto-Indo-European *bheh2- Proto-Indo-European *bhéh2os Proto-Hellenic *pháwos Ancient Greek φᾰ́ος (phắos) Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs) Ancient Greek φωτο- (phōto-)der. English photo- Proto-Indo-European *meh1- ▲ Proto-Indo-European *-trom Proto-Hellenic *-tron Ancient Greek -τρον (-tron) Ancient Greek μέτρον (métron)lbor. French -mètrebor. English -meter English photometer English spectrophotometer From spectro- + photometer.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: spektrofotometri — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • French: spectrophotomètre — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Georgian: სპექტროფოტომეტრი (sṗekṭropoṭomeṭri) — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Greek: φασματοφωτόμετρο (fasmatofotómetro) — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Irish: speictreafótaiméadar — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Italian: spettrofotometro — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Malay: spektrofotometer — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Portuguese: espectrofotômetro — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Russian: спектрофотометр (spektrofotometr) — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths
  • Tagalog: balngawsugasukat — instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths