Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Musca and Triangulum Australe.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The Compasses, a small southern constellation made by Lacaille in 1752.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun astronomy A small constellation of the southern winter sky, said to resemble a compass. It lies between the constellations of Centaurus and Triangulum Australe.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Musca and Triangulum Australe

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin, from Latin circinus, pair of compasses, from circus, circle; see circle.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1763. From Latin circinus ("a pair of compasses")

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