Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Modern Latin
Origin: sextans 'sixth part of a circle', from Latin sextus 'sixth'

sextant

 noun
     
Related topics: Measurement
sex‧tant [countable]
TM a tool for measuring angles between stars in order to calculate the position of a ship or aircraft
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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