spectrometer UK /spɛkˈtɹɒm.ɪ.tə/US /spɛkˈtɹɑm.ɪ.təɹ/ noun1 •An optical instrument for measuring the absorption of light by chemical substances; typically it will plot a graph of absorption versus wavelength or frequency, and the patterns produced are used to identify the substances present, and their internal structure. formsspectrometers