clepsydra

Empedocles performed his experiment with a household implement people had used for centuries, the so-called clepsydra or “water thief,” which was used as a kitchen ladle.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

The clepsydra is said to have been known to the Egyptians.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various

So far as we at present know there were four forms of time-measuring instruments known to antiquity—the sun-dial, the clepsydra or water clock, the hour-glass, and the graduated candle.

From Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle

Either slow like the dripping of the remnants of water in a clepsydra.

From Hung Lou Meng, Book II Or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel in Two Books by H. Bencraft Joly

However, mechanical clocks fitted with this escapement offer indisputable advantages over the ancient clepsydra; in spite of their imperfections they rendered important services, especially after the striking movement had been added.

From Watch and Clock Escapements A Complete Study in Theory and Practice of the Lever, Cylinder and Chronometer Escapements, Together with a Brief Account of the Origin and Evolution of the Escapement in Horology by Anonymous

Smaller clepsydrae of glass were very early used in place of the sun-dial, to mark the hours.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various

During his residence at Toledo he constructed two clepsydras, the waters of which decreased and increased according to the waning and growing of the moon, and these two basins were destroyed only in A.D.

From Arabic Authors A Manual of Arabian History and Literature by F. F. Arbuthnot

And in Rome the sun-dials, the clepsydras and the hour-glass were used for the same purpose, and more generally than in Greece, to regulate the hours of business and pleasure.

From Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle

"As near accuracy," I said, "as any clepsydras ever made."

From Andivius Hedulio Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire by Edward Lucas White

It seems probable that some of these water clocks could have been simple drip clepsydras, with perhaps a striking arrangement added.

From On the Origin of Clockwork, Perpetual Motion Devices, and the Compass by Derek J. de Solla (Derek John de Solla) Price

The Arabian astronomers also devoted themselves to the construction and perfection of astronomical instruments, to the measurement of time by clocks of various kinds, by clepsydras and sun-dials.

From History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science by John William Draper