Meanings
plural ectometers
- A device designed to detect ghosts.
I can't go about with an ectometer, scanning for murder scenes and Lord Byron's lost socks.
2011 October 6, Justin Evans, The White Devil: 'An intelligent, bristling ghost story with a stunning sense of place', Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl, Hachette UK, →ISBN2 more examples
This handheld ectoplasmic scanning device was developed to detect spirit activity within an area. It has a location map to pinpoint a spirit's location and an ectometer to determine density of trace matter and spirit strength
1995 02, Web Games, Keith Bailey, Web of Stars, →ISBNI rub my finger around the rim of the goblet until it hums its menacing tone. I tune the ectometer and find Karl quickly this time.
2012 August 7, F. J. Lennon, Devil's Gate: A Kane Pryce Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 113
Origin
From ecto- + -meter; likely coined to describe the "psychokinetic energy detector" from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
ectometer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ectometer
“ectometer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ectometer. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ectometer,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ectometer.
Source: ectometer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.