from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Gnomon \Gno"mon\, n. [L. gnomon, Gr. ? one that knows, the index
of a sundial. See {Gnome}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. (Dialing) The style or pin, which by its shadow, shows the
hour of the day. It is usually set parallel to the earth's
axis.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Astron.) A style or column erected perpendicularly to the
horizon, formerly used in astronomocal observations. Its
principal use was to find the altitude of the sun by
measuring the length of its shadow.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Geom.) The space included between the boundary lines of
two similar parallelograms, the one within the other, with
an angle in common; as, the gnomon bcdefg of the
parallelograms ac and af. The parallelogram bf is the
complement of the parallelogram df.
[1913 Webster]
4. The index of the hour circle of a globe. Gnomonic