Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A medieval instrument, now replaced by the sextant, that was once used to determine the altitude of the sun or other celestial bodies.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An obsolete astronomical instrument of different forms, used for taking the altitude of the sun or stars, and for the solution of other problems in astronomy.
- noun A stereographic projection of the sphere, either upon the plane of the equator, the eye being supposed to be in the pole of the world, or upon the plane of the meridian, the eye being in the point of intersection of the equinoctial and the horizon.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Astron.) An instrument for observing or showing the positions of the stars. It is now disused.
- noun A stereographic projection of the sphere on the plane of a great circle, as the equator, or a meridian; a planisphere.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An astronomical and navigational instrument for gauging the
altitude of the Sun and stars.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an early form of sextant
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The other instrument, called the astrolabe, was a brass circle marked off into 360 degrees.
Introductory American History Elbert Jay Benton
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In the latter there is one of the oldest examples of the figures then found almost invariably on the reverse of the so-called astrolabe, a graduated quadrant with the help of which one could obtain the different hours of the day from the observation of the sun's height.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 8: Infamy-Lapparent 1840-1916 1913
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They set out to find a second youth -- the dream of immortality -- with the astrolabe, which is the creed or Koran all take as their guide.
Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies Richard Jefferies 1867
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The astrolabe was a highly developed tool used throughout the Muslim world to measure the altitude of stars and planets.
unknown title 2009
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The problem of fixing geographical location was resolved with the use of the "astrolabe", which made it possible to measure the angle of the sun and that of the pole star.
Sailing on and on 2008
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The problem of fixing geographical location was resolved with the use of the "astrolabe", which made it possible to measure the angle of the sun and that of the pole star.
Sailing on and on 2008
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He visited Portugal about 1480, invented a new kind of astrolabe, and sailed with it in 1484 as cosmographer in Diego Cam's voyage to the Congo.
The Discovery of America Vol. 1 (of 2) with some account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest John Fiske 1871
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This sketch would be incomplete without some reference to the mysterious astrolabe which is alleged to have been found in the month of August,
Canadian Notabilities, Volume 1 John Charles Dent 1864
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The '' 'astrolabe' '' was a compact round disc used to observe and calculate the position of [[celestial bodies]] before the invention of the [[sextant]].
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The '' 'astrolabe' '' was a compact round disc used to observe and calculate the position of [[celestial bodies]] before the invention of the [[sextant]].
bilby commented on the word astrolabe
Lovely word. "I take the stars", what an etymology.
*swoon*
January 3, 2014