potentiometer

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

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

Origin of potentiometer

1
1880–85; potenti(al) + -o- + -meter

Other words from potentiometer

  • po·ten·ti·o·met·ric [puh-ten-shee-uh-me-trik], /pəˌtɛn ʃi əˈmɛ trɪk/, adjective

Words Nearby potentiometer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use potentiometer in a sentence

  • Meanwhile the gravity potentiometer (gravy board) was changing its reading constantly and erratically.

    Unthinkable | Roger Phillips Graham
  • 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 connect a potentiometer across the B battery or it will speedily run down.

    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

British Dictionary definitions for potentiometer

potentiometer

/ (pəˌtɛnʃɪˈɒmɪtə) /


noun
  1. an instrument for determining a potential difference or electromotive force by measuring the fraction of it that balances a standard electromotive force

  2. 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 forms of potentiometer

  • potentiometry, 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

Scientific definitions for potentiometer

potentiometer

[ pə-tĕn′shē-ŏmĭ-tər ]


  1. A mechanical variable resistor. See more at resistor.

  2. An instrument for measuring an unknown voltage by comparison with a known voltage, such as that of a generator.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.