Lexic.us

Definition of Octant

1. Noun. A measuring instrument for measuring angles to a celestial body; similar to a sextant but with 45 degree calibration.

Definition of Octant

1. n. The eighth part of a circle; an arc of 45 degrees.

Definition of Octant

1. Noun. The eighth part of a circle; an arc of 45 degrees. ¹

2. Noun. (geometry) : The eighth part of a disc; a sector of 45 degrees; half a quadrant. ¹

3. Noun. (nautical) : An instrument for measuring angles, particularly of elevation. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Octant

1. an eighth of a circle [n -S] : OCTANTAL [adj]

Medical Definition of Octant

1. 1. The eighth part of a circle; an arc of 45 degrees. 2. The position or aspect of a heavenly body, as the moon or a planet, when half way between conjunction, or opposition, and quadrature, or distant from another body 45 degrees. 3. An instrument for measuring angles (generally called a quadrant), having an arc which measures up to 9O deg, but being itself the eighth part of a circle. Cf. Sextant. 4. One of the eight parts into which a space is divided by three coordinate planes. Origin: L. Octans, -antis. Fr. Octo eight. See Octave. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Octant

Literary usage of Octant

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Some Propositions in Geometry: In Five Parts by John Harris (1884)
"Hence, because the diff. is one-nth the arc-length of the octant, if the sine of an octant be evenly divided into nl equal parts, the cliff, equals one of ..."

2. An Introduction to Celestial Mechanics by Forest Ray Moulton (1914)
"24] APPLICATION TO THE octant OF A SPHERE. If polar coordinates were used in this problem the upper limits of the integrals would be much more complicated ..."

3. Elements of Analytic Geometry by George Albert Wentworth (1896)
"The fifth octant is below the first. Let P be any point in space, ... Hence the octant in which a point is situated is determined by the signs of its ..."

4. The Structure and Development of Mosses and Ferns (Archegoniatae). by Douglas Houghton Campbell (1905)
"divisions in the embryo, so that each octant may be said to have a ... When the octant wall in the root quadrant is decidedly oblique this is not always ..."

5. The Structure and Life-history of the Hay-scented Fern by Henry Shoemaker Conard (1908)
"These octant walls do not correspond in the different quadrants, ... The fate of the octants may be stated thus: Anterior upper right octant=Stem initial 2. ..."

6. A System of Crystallography, with Its Application to Mineralogy by John Joseph Griffin (1841)
"The foregoing observations all refer to an octant, or one eighth part of the combination ... I therefore always refer to the Znw octant of a combination, ..."

7. The Circle and Straight Line by John Harris (1875)
"The relation of the Sine to the arc-length of the octant, the basis of the Science of Number and Quantity. In Theorem (Fig. 7), of Part First, ..."

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