Meanings
plural VU meters
- A display in audio equipment that represents the loudness of the signal.
The accuracy of VU meters is sometimes questioned in two areas.
2006, David E Reese, Lynne S Gross, Brian Gross, Radio production worktext: studio and equipment1 more example
VU (volume unit) meters are wonderful to look at as their pointers swing merrily back and forth across their brightly-lit faces.
1978, Craig Anderton, Home recording for musicians - computingAny animated graphical representation of the volume of sound or music (often subdivided across channels).
Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any source code that showed how to read the values to construct a VU meter from a tracker replay routine.
1991, Cybernetworx, “VU meters”, in comp.sys.amiga.programmer (Usenet)1 more example
The ECC Syncro Demo is a demonstration of text scrolling in the GS border area, as well as having VU meters in the border area. Similar to FTA's X-mas demo.
1991, Kenrick J. Mock, “demos on tybalt?”, in comp.sys.apple2 (Usenet)
Origin
Abbreviation of volume unit + meter.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
VU meter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/VU%20meter
“VU meter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/VU%20meter. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “VU meter,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/VU%20meter.
Source: VU meter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.