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gnomon

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gnomon


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Gnomon  \Gno"mon\,  n.  [L.  gnomon,  Gr  ?  one  that  knows  the  index 
  of  a  sundial.  See  {Gnome}.] 
  1.  (Dialing)  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.  (Astron.)  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.  (Geom.)  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  gnomon 
  n  :  the  stationary  arm  whose  shadow  indicates  the  time  on  the 
  sundial 




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