sundial
pronunciation
How to pronounce sundial in British English:
UK [ˈsʌndaɪəl]
How to pronounce sundial in American English:
US [ˈsʌndaɪəl]
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- Noun:
- timepiece that indicates the daylight hours by the shadow that the gnomon casts on a calibrated dial
Word Origin
- sundial (n.)
- also sun-dial, 1590s, from sun (n.) + dial (n.). Earlier simply dial.
Example
- 1. A sundial showed very precise time .
- 2. A sundial measures the movement of the sun across the sky each day .
- 3. Yet , to the north at alexandria , a sundial cast a shadow even at the solstice midday , because the sun was not directly overhead there .
- 4. Eratosthenes knew that at noon on the day of the summer solstice , the sun was observed to be directly overhead at syene ( modern-day aswan ) : you could see it from the bottom of a deep well , and a sundial cast no shadow .
- 5. Forbidden cit beijing china chinese travel tiananmen qing dynasty history eight nation alliance empire empress ming museum palace dowager cixi ballustrades ancient sundial .