Anemoscope

Tower of the Winds, Athens 2nd century BCE. A bronze Triton once served as a weather-vane but has vanished.

An anemoscope is a device designed to show the direction of the wind, or to indicate a change of wind direction . The name is usually applied to an apparatus consisting of a wind vane above, connecting to a building below by some kind of coupling, and with a dial or index with pointers to show the direction and changes of the wind.

Anemoscopes existed in antiquity and have evolved into modern mechanical and electronic instruments.

The word is first recorded in English in the period 1700–10. It derives from the Greek word for wind + -scope.

Is should not be confused with the anemometer, a device to measure the speed of the wind, alongside which it is often deployed.