Réaumur

English

Etymology

Named after French scientist René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683–1757).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹeɪəʊˈmjʊə(ɹ)/

Noun

Réaumur (uncountable)

1. Réaumur scale, a temperature scale in which the boiling point of water is 80 degrees and its freezing point is 0 degrees. [from 18th c.]

Adjective

Réaumur (not comparable)

1. (chiefly as postmodifier) Measured on the Réaumur scale. [from 18th c.]
   • 1898, Elizabeth von Arnim, Elizabeth and her German Garden, Vintage, published 2017, page 97:

     It is very cold,—fifteen degrees of frost Réaumur, but perfectly delicious, still, bright weather, and one feels jolly and energetic and amiably disposed towards everybody.

   • 1941, Vladimir Nabokov, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Penguin 1971 edition, page 5:

     I am able to state that the morning of Sebastian's birth was a fine windless one, with twelve degrees (Réaumur) below zero….

Further reading

• Réaumur scale on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Réaumur n

1. Alternative spelling of Reaumur