moon dialn.
/ˈmuːnˌdʌɪəl/, U.S. /ˈmunˌdaɪəl/ A dial for showing the hours of the night by means of moonlight.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > [noun] > sundial
chilindrec1386
dialc1425
sundial1555
clocka1562
cylinder1593
horoscope1623
compass-dial1632
moon dial1664
ring dial1667
heliotrope1669
pole-dial1669
sciatheric1682
spot dial1687
polar dial1688
sun clock1737
meridian ring1839
solarium1842
journey-ring1877
scratch dial1914
1664 S. Butler Hudibras: Second Pt. ii. iii. 209 A Moon-Dial, with Napiers bones, And severall Constellation-stones.
1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. vi. 17 Some pretious Stones are Natural Moon-dials; the Selenite [etc.].
1727–41 E. Chambers Cycl. at Dial Moon-Dial, or Lunar Dial, is that which shews the hour of the night by means of the light, or shadow, of the moon, projected thereon from an index.
a1849 E. A. Poe Fairy-land 11 About twelve by the moon-dial.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 154 (note) In one of the Courts of Queens' College, Cambridge, there is an elaborate sun-dial..and around it a series of numbers which make it available as a moon-dial when the moon's age is known.
1954 G. B. Gardner Witchcraft Today ix. 99 They are said..to hold ceremonies in honour of the full moon, with dances regulated by a moon dial.
1984 Antiquarian Horol. Dec. 151/2 The sub-plate..carries..the moon dial.., the sunset–sunrise work and the equation work.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1664