Réaumur

/ɹeɪəʊˈmjʊə(ɹ)/

noun

Réaumur scale, a temperature scale in which the boiling point of water is 80 degrees and its freezing point is 0 degrees.

First used 18th c.
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Meanings

nounRéaumur (uncountable)
  1. uncountableRéaumur scale, a temperature scale in which the boiling point of water is 80 degrees and its freezing point is 0 degrees.First known use 18th c.
adjectiveRéaumur (not comparable)
  1. not comparableMeasured on the Réaumur scale.First known use 18th c.

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

    1941, Vladimir Nabokov, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Penguin 1971 edition, page 5
    1 more example

    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.

    1898, Elizabeth von Arnim, Elizabeth and her German Garden, Vintage, published 2017, page 97

Origin

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

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Réaumur. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/R%C3%A9aumur

MLA

“Réaumur.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/R%C3%A9aumur. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Réaumur,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/R%C3%A9aumur.

Source: Réaumur on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.