a circle on the celestial sphere parallel to the horizontal plane
2.
an instrument for measuring altitudes
Word origin
C14: from French, from Arabic almukantarāt sundial
almucantar in American English
(ˈælmjuːˌkæntər)
noun
Astronomy
a circle on the celestial sphere parallel to the horizon; the locus of all points of a given altitude
Also called: parallel of altitude
Word origin
[1350–1400; prob. ‹ ML almucantarath ‹ Ar al-muqanṭarāt the almucantars, equiv. to al the + muquanṭarāt sundial, deriv. of qanṭarah arch; r. almicanter, ME almicanteras (pl.) ‹ MF almicantarath ‹ ML]This word is first recorded in the period 1350–1400. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: fix, index, negative, register, train