gnomon vs timer

gnomon

noun
  • The index of the hour circle of a globe. 

  • A plane figure formed by removing a parallelogram from a corner of a larger parallelogram. 

  • An object such as a pillar or a rod that is used to tell time by the shadow it casts when the sun shines on it, especially the pointer on a sundial. 

  • An object such as a pillar used by an observer to calculate the meridian altitude of the sun (that is, the altitude of the sun when it reaches the observer's meridian), for the purpose of determining the observer's latitude. 

  • A number representing the increment between two figurate numbers (“numbers equal to the numbers of dots in geometric figures formed of dots”). 

timer

noun
  • A device used to measure amounts of time. 

  • Any electronic function that causes a device to be able to do something automatically after a preset amount of time. 

  • A person who records the time elapsed in a sporting event. 

  • One who has done something a certain number of times. 

  • One characterized by a certain time or time frame, such as their work hours. 

How often have the words gnomon and timer occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )