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Glite Dictionary
thermopile

thermopile

1 9.9
A tool that measures heat radiation using many small temperature sensors
  • noun
  • /ˈθɜrməˌpaɪl/
  • Specialized
: termopila
  • The temperature sensor, a state-of-the-art thermopile, provided real-time data on energy output.

Examples

  • In addition, the engine heat and the seawater cooling could generate power below the waterline with thermopiles.

    Blog text (8)

  • The engineer used a thermopile to accurately measure the heat radiation from the experiment.

  • This, Pace realized, was the place to obtain all the thermopile RNA he needed.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The displays' plug-and-play instruments can operate with Ophir's thermopile, pyroelectric, and photodetector heads.

    Academic text (2005)

  • By connecting multiple thermopile junctions, the scientists were able to enhance the sensitivity of their heat measurements.

Surface Forms

thermopile singular
thermopiles plural

Morphology

thermopile = pile (semi-transparent) = thermo + pile

The form clearly combines the heat-related prefix thermo- with pile, but the scientific instrument meaning is specialized and not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Thermopile begins with thermo- meaning 'heat' (you see this root in thermometer and thermal) and ends with pile, which you can think of as a 'stack' or 'group'. So a thermopile is like a 'stack of heat sensors', which explains why it is a device used to detect and measure heat radiation.