sundial

[suhn-dahy-uhl, -dahyl]

noun

1. an instrument that indicates the time of day by means of the position, on a graduated plate or surface, of the shadow of the gnomon as it is cast by the sun.

sundial

/ ˈsʌnˌdaɪəl /

noun

1. a device indicating the time during the hours of sunlight by means of a stationary arm (the gnomon ) that casts a shadow onto a plate or surface marked in hours

Word History and Origins

Origin of sundial¹

First recorded in 1570–80; sun + dial

Example Sentences

There are secrets, a garden replete with a sundial and creepy statues and a house that traps its residents.

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As I squeezed the pedal harder, the animated speedometer—designed a bit like an Aztec sundial, with spiky points blooming around the center—grew in radiance.

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Place that shade on a sundial and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex could time her bakes to it with the utmost accuracy.

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“Our ancestors, always hurried,” she writes in “Angel in the Forest,” “left little evidence of their existence, if one discounts intangibles, a sundial, an apple a day, an angel in the forest.”

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Cross the orbit of 6446 Lomberg, the asteroid named in honor of his contributions to science, and sail by Mars, where the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers bear sundials he helped design.

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Related Words

• timer