gnomon
the raised part of a sundial that casts the shadow; a style.
an early astronomical instrument consisting of a vertical shaft, column, or the like, for determining the altitude of the sun or the latitude of a position by measuring the length of its shadow cast at noon.
Geometry. (formerly) the part of a parallelogram that remains after a similar parallelogram has been taken away from one of its corners.
Origin of gnomon
1Words Nearby gnomon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use gnomon in a sentence
But I landed in the dark chamber of a gnomon, waist-deep in loose wheat.
Pharaoh's Broker | Ellsworth DouglassI mounted the only unsealed gnomon and shouted down into its cavernous depths.
Pharaoh's Broker | Ellsworth DouglassA gnomon or pin erected so as to throw its traveling shadow across a graduated arc constitutes a dial.
The Old Furniture Book | N. Hudson MooreA figure in the shape of a gnomon put round two sides of a square makes it into a larger square.
Archimedes | Thomas Little HeathAnd the given absolute magnitude to which it is equal is the rectangle beneath the unequal segments, without gnomon.
William Oughtred | Florian Cajori
British Dictionary definitions for gnomon
/ (ˈnəʊmɒn) /
the stationary arm that projects the shadow on a sundial
a geometric figure remaining after a parallelogram has been removed from one corner of a larger parallelogram
Origin of gnomon
1Derived forms of gnomon
- gnomonic, adjective
- gnomonically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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