sextant

noun

sex·​tant ˈsek-stənt 

: an instrument for measuring angular distances used especially in navigation to observe altitudes of celestial bodies (as in ascertaining latitude and longitude)

Illustration of sextant

Examples of sextant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nine months of starlight and sea air—chess, books, sewing, the sextant and the nautical almanac, bibulous pit stops in scenic ports—ended abruptly one March morning when a sperm whale smashed a hole in their boat. —Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025

Sharpen your sextant: Refine your value proposition. —Wayne Anderman, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025

Though his crew has access to GPS data, satellite internet and radar, the captain still makes use brass compasses, sextants and the ship’s great wheel. —Joe Sills, Forbes, 19 Jan. 2025

Black Spy stares at the moon through an elaborate sextant, adjusting various settings and making mental calculations, finally drawing an X on the ground with a compass before setting the bucket down. —Gyasi Hall, Longreads, 12 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

New Latin sextant-, sextans sixth part of a circle, from Latin, sixth part, from sextus sixth

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sextant

• extant

Kids Definition

sextant

noun

sex·​tant ˈsek-stənt 

: a navigational instrument for measuring the angle between the horizon and the sun or a star in order to find out the latitude (as of a ship)