Well, a scrabble player might find it a useful word on rare occasions..
A pub-quiz player might be asked the question or even in " Who wants to be a Millionaire "
It sounds like it might measure degrees of worthlessness
It is used for measuring the fall of dew. It works by a plate exposed to the dew is balanced by an unexposed weight. The extra weight needed to restore the balance represents the amount of dew that has fallen.
Peter Thorndyke