SEXTANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sextant mean? 

• SEXTANT (noun)
  The noun SEXTANT has 2 senses:

1. a unit of angular distance equal to 60 degrees

2. a measuring instrument for measuring the angular distance between celestial objects; resembles an octant

  Familiarity information: SEXTANT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEXTANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A unit of angular distance equal to 60 degrees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("sextant" is a kind of...):

angular unit (a unit of measurement for angles)

Meronyms (parts of "sextant"):

arcdegree; degree (a measure for arcs and angles)

Holonyms ("sextant" is a part of...):

circumference (the length of the closed curve of a circle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A measuring instrument for measuring the angular distance between celestial objects; resembles an octant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sextant" is a kind of...):

measuring device; measuring instrument; measuring system (instrument that shows the extent or amount or quantity or degree of something)

Meronyms (parts of "sextant"):

limb (the graduated arc that is attached to an instrument for measuring angles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sextant"):

astrolabe (an early form of sextant)

 Context examples 

Now, it’s as much as he’ll do to carry his own sextant up the companion.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The place is stored with great variety of sextants, quadrants, telescopes, astrolabes, and other astronomical instruments.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“I wish I had thought to bring Wolf Larsen’s chronometer and sextant,” I said, still gloomily.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)