From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Octant \Oc"tant\, noun [L. octans, -antis. fr. octo eight. See {Octave}.]
1. (Geom.) The eighth part of a circle; an arc of 45 degrees.
2. (Astron. & Astrol.) 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. (Math. & Crystallog.) One of the eight parts into which a space is divided by three co["o]rdinate planes.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a measuring instrument for measuring angles to a celestial body; similar to a sextant but with 45 degree calibration
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0