Word.ws English Dictionary

almucantar

UK/ælməˈkæntə//ælməˈkæntɚ/

almucantar noun: a small circle on the celestial sphere, parallel to the horizon, that is used in astronomy and navigation to show altitude of a star or any other heavenly body.

Noun

almucantar (plural almucantars)

  1. (archaic, historical) A small circle on the celestial sphere, parallel to the horizon, that is used in astronomy and navigation to show altitude of a star or any other heavenly body.
    • Almucantars, or parallels of altitude, are circles parallel to the horizon, or whose poles are the zenith and nadir. All the points of any one almucantar are at equal altitudes above the horizon.1816, Olinthus Gregory, “On Projections of the Sphere”, in Elements of Plane and Spherical Trigonometry, London: Baldwin, page 119
  2. (archaic, historical) An instrument for observing the heavenly bodies as they cross such a circle.
    • A wide field of work appears open in the application of photography to meridian instruments, or to the almucantar. The sensitive plate should be substituted for the reticule, and the position marked by a graver attached to the tail-piece of the telescope.1886 March 10, Edward Charles Pickering, “Stellar Photography”, in Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, volume XI, number IV, page 204

almucantar meaning in Persian

almucantar in Persian

small circle on the celestial sphere
مقنطره moqantare, مقنطرات moqantarât

Forms of almucantar

pluralalmucantars
alternative formalmacantar
alternative formalmicantar
alternative formalmucanter

Origin of almucantar

From Middle English almicanteras, French almicantarat, almucantarat, from Medieval Latin almicantarath, almucantarath, from Arabic المقنطرات (almuqanṭarāt, “circles of celestial latitude”), from قَنْطَرَة (qanṭara, “arch”).

Words formed from almucantar

Questions about almucantar

What does almucantar mean?
Almucantar means a small circle on the celestial sphere, parallel to the horizon, that is used in astronomy and navigation to show altitude of a star or any other heavenly body.
What is almucantar in Persian?
Almucantar in Persian is مقنطره (moqantare), مقنطرات (moqantarât). See Almucantar meaning in Persian.
What part of speech is almucantar?
Almucantar is a noun.
How do you pronounce almucantar?
Almucantar is pronounced /ælməˈkæntə/ (UK).
What is the plural of almucantar?
The plural of almucantar is almucantars.

Words near almucantar in the dictionary

  1. almspeople
  2. almsperson
  3. almspersons
  4. almswoman
  5. almswomen
  6. almucantar
  7. almucantar staff
  8. almucantars
  9. almuce
  10. almuces
  11. almud

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: almucantar (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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