sextant en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈsɛk.stənt/
Etymology
From Latin sextāns.
Meanings
-
A navigational device for deriving angular distances between objects so as to determine latitude and longitude.
Moskowitz and Devereux have designed a hyperaccurate sextant for interstellar navigation based upon the design of the sextant used by the Apollo astronauts.
1981, Saul Adelman, Benjamin Adelman, Bound for the Stars, →ISBN, page 227:[…] I can do more with a Quadrant, Sextant or Octant, of 1 foot Radius, furniſhed with Teleſcopical Sights and Screws, then ^([sic]) can poſſibly be done with any other Inſtrument, furniſhed only with Common Sights, though 10, 20, 30, nay threeſcore foot Radius; […]
1674, Robert Hooke, Animadversions on the Firſt Part of the Machina Coelestis of the […] Aſtronomer Johannes Hevelius […] , page 43:I took our position every morning with my crude sextant; but the results were always most unsatisfactory.
1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:
- One sixth of a circle or disc; a sector with an angle of 60°.
- One of six groups of adjacent teeth, excluding the wisdom teeth.
- A radial cell division of segments in three series, a sixth part of the original.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| sextants | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Translations (35)
el εξάντας (navigational instrument) · ru секста́нт (navigational instrument) · cs sextant (navigational instrument) · ko 육분의 (navigational instrument) · gl sextante (one sixth of a circle) · fi sekstantti (one sixth of a circle) · ar سُدُس (navigational instrument) · fr sextant (navigational instrument) · ml ദൂരകോണമാപിനി (navigational instrument) · gl sextante (navigational instrument) · eo sekstanto (navigational instrument) · bg секстант (navigational instrument) · ru секста́н (navigational instrument) · ro sextant (navigational instrument) · ja 六分儀 (navigational instrument) · fa سدس (navigational instrument) · ca sextant (one sixth of a circle) · pt sextante (navigational instrument) · fi sekstantti (navigational instrument) · da sekstant (navigational instrument) · de Sextant (navigational instrument) · sv sextant (navigational instrument) · es sextante (navigational instrument) · kk секстант (navigational instrument) · az sekstant (navigational instrument) · ar سُدْس (navigational instrument) · pt sextante (one sixth of a circle) · ca sextant (navigational instrument) · cmn 六分儀 /六分仪 (navigational instrument) · gv uillin-towsheyder (navigational instrument) · vi kính lục phân (navigational instrument) · cy secstant (navigational instrument) · nn sekstant (navigational instrument) · nb sekstant (navigational instrument) · ota آینه (navigational instrument)