potentiometer

[puh-ten-shee-om-i-ter]

noun Electricity.

a device for measuring electromotive force or potential difference by comparison with a known voltage.
voltage divider.

Origin of potentiometer

1880–85; potenti(al) + -o- + -meter

Related formspo·ten·ti·o·met·ric

[puh-ten-shee-uh-me-trik] /pəˌtɛn ʃi əˈmɛ trɪk/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for potentiometer

Historical Examples of potentiometer

The potentiometer must never be shunted around the B battery or the latter will soon run down.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book
A. Frederick Collins
In using either of these heterodyne receivers be sure to carefully adjust the B battery by means of the potentiometer.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book
A. Frederick Collins
Don't expect to get the best results with a gas-content detector tube without using a potentiometer.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book
A. Frederick Collins
Don't connect a potentiometer across the B battery or it will speedily run down.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book
A. Frederick Collins
By means of a potentiometer the galvanometer spot may be brought back to the original position.
Response in the Living and Non-Living
Jagadis Chunder Bose

British Dictionary definitions for potentiometer

potentiometer

noun

an instrument for determining a potential difference or electromotive force by measuring the fraction of it that balances a standard electromotive force
a device with three terminals, two of which are connected to a resistance wire and the third to a brush moving along the wire, so that a variable potential can be tapped off: used in electronic circuits, esp as a volume control

Sometimes shortened to: pot

Derived Formspotentiometry, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for potentiometer

1868, a hybrid formed from comb. form of Latin potentia "power" (see potential) + Greek-derived -meter.

potentiometer in Science

potentiometer

[pə-tĕn′shē-ŏm′ĭ-tər]

A mechanical variable resistor. See more at resistor.
An instrument for measuring an unknown voltage by comparison with a known voltage, such as that of a generator.