Lexic.us

Definition of Gnomon

1. Noun. Indicator provided by the stationary arm whose shadow indicates the time on the sundial.

Definition of Gnomon

1. n. The style or pin, which by its shadow, shows the hour of the day. It is usually set parallel to the earth's axis.

Definition of Gnomon

1. Noun. The pointer on a sundial. ¹

2. Noun. (geometry) A plane figure formed by removing a parallelogram from a corner of a larger parallelogram. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Gnomon

1. a part of a sundial [n -S] : GNOMONIC [adj]

Medical Definition of Gnomon

1. 1. The style or pin, which by its shadow, shows the hour of the day. It is usually set parallel to the earth's axis. 2. A style or column erected perpendicularly to the horizon, formerly used in astronomocal observations. Its principal use was to find the altitude of the sun by measuring the length of its shadow. 3. The space included between the boundary lines of two similar parallelograms, the one within the other, with an angle in common; as, the gnomon bcdefg of the parallelograms ac and af. The parallelogram bf is the complement of the parallelogram df. 4. The index of the hour circle of a globe. Origin: L. Gnomon, Gr. One that knows, the index of a sundial. See Gnome. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Gnomon

Literary usage of Gnomon

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. American Edition of the British Encyclopedia: Or, Dictionary of Arts and ...by William Nicholson by William Nicholson (1819)
"The gnomon of every dial represents the axis of the world. See DIAL and DIALING. t•NOMON, in geometry. If, in a parallelogram (PI. VI. Miscel. fig. ..."

2. In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times by Fridtjof Nansen (1911)
"In the case mentioned above the gnomon •was a vertical column raised on a plane. By measuring the length of the 600 height of the column. ..."

3. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1889)
"I do not say there Is such Difficulty to conceive a Rock standing still when the Waves run by it : or the gnomon of a Dial when the Shaddow passes from one ..."

4. The Arts in the Middle Ages, and at the Period of the Renaissance by P. L. Jacob, James Dafforne (1870)
"HOROLOGY. Modes of measuring Time among the Ancients.—The gnomon. ... the ancients there were three instruments for measuring time—the gnomon, or sun-dial, ..."

5. Encyclopaedia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature by Francis Lieber, Thomas Gamaliel Bradford (1831)
"gnomon, in astronomy, is an instrument or apparatus for measuring the ... The gnomon is usually a pillar, or column, or pyramid, erected upon level ground, ..."

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