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“sextant”
sextant
sextant, sexton
sextant (SEK stuhnt) (noun)
A navigational instrument incorporating a telescope and an angular scale that is used to work out latitude and longitude of astronomical objects as viewed through the telescope and its angular distance above the horizon is read off the scale: "The captains on the old whaling fleets used a sextant to set the courses for their ships."
sexton (SEK stuhn) (noun)
An employee or officer of a church who is responsible for the care and upkeep of church property and sometimes for ringing bells and digging graves: "One of his friends has a part time job as the sexton at the local church."
The sexton at their church had an interesting career before working at the church. He was previously working on a tall ship and used a sextant to guide the vessel during its voyages.
This entry is located in the following unit:
Confusing Words Clarified: Group S; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. +
(page 4)
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“sextant”
sextant
A navigational instrument for determining latitude by measuring the angle between some heavenly body and the horizon.
It was invented in 1730 by John Hadley (1682-1744) and can be used only in clear weather. John Hadley was an English mathematician, inventor of the octant (reflecting quadrant) and precursor to the sextant around 1730.
This entry is located in the following unit:
Astronomy and related astronomical terms
(page 23)