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astrolabe

[ as-truh-leyb ]

noun

  1. an astronomical instrument for taking the altitude of the sun or stars and for the solution of other problems in astronomy and navigation: used by Greek astronomers from about 200 b.c. and by Arab astronomers from the Middle Ages until superseded by the sextant.


astrolabe

/ ˈæstrəˌleɪb /

noun

  1. an instrument used by early astronomers to measure the altitude of stars and planets and also as a navigational aid. It consists of a graduated circular disc with a movable sighting device Compare sextant
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


astrolabe

/ ăstrə-lāb′ /

  1. An ancient instrument used widely in medieval times by navigators and astronomers to determine latitude, longitude, and time of day. The device employed a disk with 360 degrees marked on its circumference. Users took readings from an indicator that pivoted around the center of the suspended device like the hand of a clock. The astrolabe was replaced by the sextant in the 18th century.


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Other Words From

  • as·tro·lab·i·cal [as-tr, uh, -, lab, -i-k, uh, l, -, ley, -bi-], adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of astrolabe1

1325–75; Middle English, variant of astrolabie < Medieval Latin astrolabium < Late Greek astrolábion, Greek astrolábon (neuter of astrolábos, adj. used as noun), equivalent to ástro ( n ) star + lab- (variant stem of lambánein to take, seize) + -on neuter suffix
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Word History and Origins

Origin of astrolabe1

C13: via Old French and Medieval Latin from Greek, from astrolabos (adj), literally: star-taking, from astron star + lambanein to take
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Example Sentences

If you ever wondered how astrolabes worked, down to the last detail, this is the book for you.

Most noteworthy among the instruments of the day was the astrolabe, a contraption containing movable disks to measure and represent the positions of astronomical objects.

Mr. Brae, in the Appendix to his edition of Chaucer's Astrolabe (p. 101), has a long note on the present passage.

The Astrolabe had anchored in the same depth, and upon a similar bottom.

By this officer the following intelligence was brought back concerning the voyage of the Astrolabe and Boussole.

Astrolabe, an instrument formerly used for taking the altitude of the sun or stars, now superseded by the quadrant and sextant.

But a passage in the prologue to the Astrolabe leaves it without doubt that Chaucer was quite familiar with lunar phenomena.

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