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gnomon
[noh-mon]
noun
the raised part of a sundial that casts the shadow; a style.
an early astronomical instrument consisting of a vertical shaft, column, or the like, for determining the altitude of the sun or the latitude of a position by measuring the length of its shadow cast at noon.
Geometry.(formerly) the part of a parallelogram that remains after a similar parallelogram has been taken away from one of its corners.
gnomon
/ ˈəʊɒ /
noun
the stationary arm that projects the shadow on a sundial
a geometric figure remaining after a parallelogram has been removed from one corner of a larger parallelogram
Other Word Forms
- ԴˈDzԾ adverb
- ԴˈDzԾ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of gnomon1
Word History and Origins
Origin of gnomon1
Example Sentences
As visitors hover over the work, functioning as a vertical gnomon, their shadows fall onto one of the panels, depending on the time of day.
The pole serves as a gnomon, the part of a sundial that casts a shadow to denote time.
A sundial uses a shadow cast by a thin rod called a gnomon on to a flat surface etched with different times.
A gnomon is the perpendicular part of a sundial, the part that casts a shadow.
Pytheas of Marseilles—who lived in the time of Alexander the Great, about 330 B.C.—measured the latitude of Marseilles by means of a gnomon, and found it to be about 42° 56′½.
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