Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A medieval instrument, now replaced by the sextant, that was once used to determine the altitude of the sun or other celestial bodies.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. 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. The name was applied to any instrument with a graduated circle or circles, but more especially to one intended to be held in the hand. Some astrolabes were armillary spheres of complicated construction, while others were planispheres intended to measure the altitude only. One of the most important uses of the astrolabe was in navigation, for which it was superseded by Hadley's quadrant and sextant.
- n. 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.
Wiktionary
- n. An astronomical and navigational instrument for gauging the altitude of the Sun and stars.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Astron.) An instrument for observing or showing the positions of the stars. It is now disused.
- n. A stereographic projection of the sphere on the plane of a great circle, as the equator, or a meridian; a planisphere.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an early form of sextant
Etymologies
- Middle French astrolabe, Old French astrelabe, from Ancient Greek ἀστρολάβος (astrolabos, "star-taking"), from ἄστρον (astron, "star") + λαμβάνω (lambanō, "I take"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English astrelabie, from Old French astrelabe, from Medieval Latin astrolabium, from Greek astrolabon, planisphere : astro-, astro- + lambanein, lab-, to take. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The other instrument, called the astrolabe, was a brass circle marked off into 360 degrees.”
“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.”
“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
“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.”
“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
“This sketch would be incomplete without some reference to the mysterious astrolabe which is alleged to have been found in the month of August,”
“The '' 'astrolabe' '' was a compact round disc used to observe and calculate the position of [[celestial bodies]] before the invention of the [[sextant]].”
“The '' 'astrolabe' '' was a compact round disc used to observe and calculate the position of”
“They enabled Muslim astronomers to create the first accurate maps of the heavens, and then to create an astonishingly sophisticated version of the astrolabe, a handheld navigation device.”
The Huffington Post: Clay Farris Naff: A Moment Of Opportunity For Muslims
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘astrolabe’.
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Not in the Periodic Table
Words that sound like they might be the names of elements of the periodic table, but that aren't. Many of the words listed here were actually proposed as names for substances their creators thought...
tentorium, columbarium, nasturtium, deuterium, caladium, valerian, concordium, synangium, chorium, geranium, hymenium, pyrenium and 310 more...
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Mundane Transformers
Bore that meets the eye.
potamogeton, testator, scrutator, isolator, confiteor, deflator, qwerty, susceptor, champertor, preemptor, disinfector, infractor and 91 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 516 more...
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Public List: Calculating Devices
Some interesting pre-electronic number crunchers.
difference engine, lebombo bone, ishango bone, abacus, antikythera mecha..., napier's bones, calculating clock, pascaline, stepped reckoner, jacquard loom, arithmometer, arithmetique and 11 more...
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Things I never find at rummage sales ...
(No matter how hard I try.)
theodolite, astrolabe, zither, autoharp, Latvian-English D..., equestrian helmet, early works by Ja..., The Century Dicti..., nuclear reactor, stuffed bilby, trichobezoar, Keith Floyd DVD's and 15 more...
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Recently Loved Words
Valentine's Day is coming up, so here's a list of words that have been "loved" here on Wordnik (our favorite site with a heart as part of its logo).
howl, lichenous, uncomplicated, siliceous, clatter, hubris, dervish, articulated, acerbic, Recently Loved Words, mellifluous, anomaly and 45 more...
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ancient signs
ouroboros, calypso, la sirene, Medusa, chthonic, aureole, colophon, succubus, peri, homunculus, zephyr, numinous and 56 more...
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inquiryqueue's list
words delicious to pronounce
apostrophe, asphodel, anemone, cantaloupe, cantalevered, cardamom, coriander, petrichor, sycamore, luminous, tendril, peculiar and 122 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, A
abaculus, abacus, abaft, abarticular, abbreviate, abeyance, abiding, anthocyanin, antemeridian, arcane, adjure, adduce and 418 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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new words!
errata, corrigenda, lacuna, inculcate, chiaroscuro, temerity, folderol, juggernaut, diadem, alacrity, exegesis, portmanteau and 97 more...
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words found to be generally pleasing
alabaster, mahogany, camphor, coalesce, spire, portmanteau, gadabout, palaver, dolor, dour, dun, luminesce and 610 more...
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wreckingball's Words
reprehensible, problematize, crepuscular, deleterious, pestilent, strumpet, draggletail, interrobang, meretricious, systematize, schadenfreude, capricious and 443 more...
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Airborn
Words and phrases from Kenneth Oppel's book, Airborn.
running lights, starboard, bow, gondola, bullhorn, rudder man, gas cell, keel, catwalk, stern, cargo bay, machinist and 152 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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What David Foster Wallace circled in ...
ablative, ablaut, abulia, acephalous, ACTH, adit, adumbrate, agrapha, ailanthus, aleatory, alfresco, algolagnia and 474 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for astrolabe.
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