Dictionary

theodolite en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /θiːˈɒdəlaɪt/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From New Latin theodolitus (1571), perhaps containing Ancient Greek θέᾱ (théā, “sight, view”) and Arabic العِضَادَة (al-ʕiḍāda, “astrolabe, alidade”); if so, doublet of alidade.

Meanings

1. A surveying instrument, consisting of a small mounted telescope, used to measure horizontal and vertical angles.
   • I drew outlines (according to my usual custom) of all the hills on the horizon before us, and took angles on them with the theodolite. c. 1839, T. L. Mitchell, Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, volume 2:
   • It was a lieutenant and a couple of privates of the 8th Hussars, with a stand like a theodolite, which the artilleryman told me was a heliograph. 1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “What I Saw of the Destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton”, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, book I (The Coming of the Martians), page 91:
   • The process of setting up a theodolite is carried out in three stages: centring the theodolite, levelling the theodolite and elimination of parallax. 2018, John Uren, Bill Price, Surveying for Engineers, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 79:
   • Germany, of all countries, was most vitally concerned in it; but even a cave-dweller in La Fayette Square, seeking only a measure of motion since the Crusades, saw before his eyes, in the spring of 1903, a survey of future order or anarchy that would exhaust the power of his telescopes and defy the accuracy of his theodolites. 1918, Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams:
   • The height of those mountains was from five to seven thousand feet above our level, by angular measurement with a theodolite. 1839, Robert FitzRoy, Phillip Parker King, Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty’s Ships Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836, […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 356:

Forms

Deriveds

Y theodolite · phototheodolite · theodolitic · cinetheodolite · gyrotheodolite

Relateds

tribrach · total station

Translations (58)

nn teodolitt (instrument) · lt teodolitas (instrument) · ko 세오돌라이트 (instrument) · az teodolit (instrument) · pl teodolit (instrument) · it teodolite (instrument) · gur teodolito (instrument) · ca teodolit (instrument) · ja セオドライト (instrument) · sv teodolit (instrument) · eu teodolito (instrument) · cs teodolit (instrument) · de Theodolit (instrument) · sl teodolit (instrument) · cmn 經緯儀 /经纬仪 (instrument) · uk теодолі́т (instrument) · fi teodoliitti (instrument) · es teodolito (instrument) · ast teodolito (instrument) · sh teodòlīt (instrument) · ro teodolit (instrument) · io teodolito (instrument) · pt teodolito (instrument) · sk teodolit (instrument) · el θεοδόλιχος (instrument) · vi máy kinh vĩ (instrument) · or ଥିଓଡ଼ୋଲାଇଟ (instrument) · gd teodail (instrument) · et teodoliit (instrument) · hi थिओडोलाइट (instrument) · my သီအိုဒိုလိုက် (instrument) · sq teodolit (instrument) · mk теодолит (instrument) · he תֵּאוֹדוֹלִיט (instrument) · nl theodoliet (instrument) · uz теодолит (instrument) · ko 경위의 (instrument) · ky теодолит (instrument) · hu teodolit (instrument) · gv uillin-towsheyder (instrument) · ota آینه (instrument) · nb teodolitt (instrument) · ta தியோடலைட்டு (instrument) · hi थियोडोलाइट (instrument) · eo teodolito (instrument) · bg теодоли́т (instrument) · sh теодо̀лӣт (instrument) · da teodolit (instrument) · ka თეოდოლიტი (instrument) · ga teodailít (instrument) · fa تئودولیت (instrument) · be тэадалі́т (instrument) · uz teodolit (instrument) · hu szögmérő (instrument) · id teodolit (instrument) · ru теодоли́т (instrument) · fr théodolite (instrument) · tr teodolit (instrument)