Réaumur scale
- noun
- /reɪˈoʊmɪr skeɪl/
- Archaic
:
escala Réaumur
- On the Réaumur scale, water boils at 80 degrees and freezes at 0.
Examples
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Some old European thermometers are still marked with the Réaumur scale.
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Scientists in the 18th century often recorded temperatures using the Réaumur scale.
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The Réaumur scale measures temperature differently than Celsius.
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Water freezes at 0 degrees on the Réaumur scale.
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On the Réaumur scale, water boils at 80 degrees and freezes at 0.
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Scientists in the 18th century often recorded temperatures using the Réaumur scale.
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Water freezes at 0 degrees on the Réaumur scale.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Réaumur + scale
The noun 'scale' signals a type of measurement, so a learner who knows both words can infer this is some kind of scale named after a person. However, the specific sense — that it is a temperature scale with freezing at 0° and boiling at 80° — depends on knowledge of Réaumur (the person/convention) and cannot be derived from the constituents alone. Because the phrase partly signals its category but requires prior cultural/technical knowledge for the precise meaning, it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The Réaumur scale is named after a French scientist, René Réaumur, who made a simple thermometer that used 0 for ice and 80 for boiling water. That's why on this scale water 'freezes' at 0 and 'boils' at 80.
