Antlia

play

noun Ant·lia \ ˈant-lē-ə \

Definition of Antlia

astronomy

:a southern constellation that is visible west of the constellation Centaurus and south of the constellation Hydra and that is represented by the figure of a pump

NGC 2997 is a spiral galaxy roughly 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Antlia (the Air Pump).
—io9, 28 Oct. 2010

There's more!

Love words? You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America's largest dictionary, with:

More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary
Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes
Advanced search features
Ad free!

Origin and Etymology of antlia

borrowed from New Latin Antlia (Pneumatica), literally, “(air) pump,” going back to Latin, “means of drawing water, treadmill,” borrowed from Greek antlía “hold of a ship, bilgewater, reservoir,” derivative of ántlos with same sense, perhaps derivative (with an instrumental suffix -tlos dissimilated from *-thlos) of an Indo-European verbal base *h₂en- “draw (water),” whence Hittite han- “draw (water)”

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1852

See Words from the same year