Made in Arabic
almucantar
المُقَنْطَرات
The face of the astrolabe carries a plate of altitude circles, which Arabic called al-muqanṭarāt, and lines of bearing, al-sumūt. From them English has almucantar, azimuth from al-sumūt, zenith from samt al-raʾs, and nadir from naẓīr. Over the plate lies a pierced net whose every pointer is a named star, and the names are Arabic still in modern astronomy: Aldebaran, Altair, Deneb, Vega.
- Instrument
- the astrolabe, its face
The path between languagesal-muqanṭarāt → almucantarat → almucantar
أ.د. عبد العزيز الحميد، متحف جامعة الإمام
Click a card to see it full size; each has a download button for sharing.
Sources
- Merriam-Webster: almucantar, from Arabic al-muqanṭarāt
- Merriam-Webster: azimuth (Arabic al-sumūt), zenith (samt al-raʾs), nadir (naẓīr)
- Paul Kunitzsch & Tim Smart, A Dictionary of Modern Star Names
Spotted a mistake, or have something to add?
Your note comes to us only; it is not published here. We read it, and if it holds we correct the card.
