SEXTANT
\sˈɛkstənt], \sˈɛkstənt], \s_ˈɛ_k_s_t_ə_n_t]\
Definitions of SEXTANT
- 2010 - New Age Dictionary Database
- 1913 - Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
- 1919 - The Winston Simplified Dictionary
- 1899 - The american dictionary of the english language.
- 1894 - The Clarendon dictionary
- 1919 - The Concise Standard Dictionary of the English Language
- 1871 - The Cabinet Dictionary of the English Language
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The sixth part of a circle.
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An instrument for measuring angular distances between objects, -- used esp. at sea, for ascertaining the latitude and longitude. It is constructed on the same optical principle as Hadley's quadrant, but usually of metal, with a nicer graduation, telescopic sight, and its arc the sixth, and sometimes the third, part of a circle. See Quadrant.
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The constellation Sextans.
By Oddity Software
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The sixth part of a circle.
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An instrument for measuring angular distances between objects, -- used esp. at sea, for ascertaining the latitude and longitude. It is constructed on the same optical principle as Hadley's quadrant, but usually of metal, with a nicer graduation, telescopic sight, and its arc the sixth, and sometimes the third, part of a circle. See Quadrant.
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The constellation Sextans.
By Noah Webster.
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The sixth part of a circle; an instrument for measuring angular distances, used especially at sea for determining latitude and longitude.
By William Dodge Lewis, Edgar Arthur Singer
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(math.) The sixth part of a circle: an optical instrument having an arc-the sixth part of a circle, and used for measuring angular distances.
By Daniel Lyons
By William Hand Browne, Samuel Stehman Haldeman
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An instrument for determining latitude at sea.
By James Champlin Fernald
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n. [Latin] The sixth part of a circle; - a nautical instrument for measuring by reflection the altitude of the heavenly bodies to determine the latitude, or their angular distances to determine the longitude of a vessel at sea. It differs from the quadrant in that the limb or arch comprehends only the sixth part of a circle or sixty degrees, that the limb is Sextant, graduated more minutely, and a telescope substituted for the eye-slit of the quadrant in making the observation, and a magnifying glass for reading it off.