Standard Lemma guide

sundial

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈsʌnˌdaɪ.əl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S AH1 N D AY2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A device measuring the time of day by the position of a shadow cast by a pole or plate (gnomon) upon an engraved series of marks.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The birdbath includes a small gnomon that acts as a sundial with markings on the basin if it's aligned correctly with the sun.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A sea snail of the genus Heliacus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

timepiece that indicates the daylight hours by the shadow that the gnomon casts on a calibrated dial

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: timepiece, timekeeper, horologe

History

Etymology

From sun + dial, a clarification of dial after it was used for other objects as well.

Across languages

Translations

98 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sonwyzer — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Albanian: orë diellore — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Arabic: مِزْوَلَة (mizwala) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Armenian: արեւի ժամացույց (arewi žamacʻuycʻ) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Asturian: reló de Sol — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Azerbaijani: günəş saatı — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Basque: eguzki erloju — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Belarusian: со́нечны гадзі́ннік (sónječny hadzínnik) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Bengali: সূর্যঘড়ি (śurjoghoṛi) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Breton: horolaj-heol — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Bulgarian: слъ́нчев часо́вник (slǎ́nčev časóvnik) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Burmese: နေ နာရီ (ne nari) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Catalan: rellotge de sol — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 日晷 (rìguǐ) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Chinese Mandarin: 日規 /日规 (rìguī) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Corsican: meridiana — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Corsican: miridiana — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Czech: sluneční hodiny — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Danish: solur — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Dutch: zonnewijzer — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Esperanto: sunhorloĝo — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Estonian: päikesekell — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Faroese: sólur — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Finnish: aurinkokello — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • French: cadran solaire — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Galician: reloxo de sol — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Georgian: მზის საათი (mzis saati) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • German: Sonnenuhr — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Greek: ηλιακό ρολόι (iliakó rolói) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Hebrew: שעון שמש (sh'ón shémesh) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Hindi: सौर-घड़ी (saur-ghaṛī) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Hindi: धूपघड़ी (dhūpghaṛī) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Hungarian: napóra — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Icelandic: sólúr — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Ido: sunohorlojo — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Indonesian: jam matahari — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Irish: clog gréine — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Italian: meridiana — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Italian: orologio solare — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Italian: gnomone — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Italian: eliotropio — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Japanese: 日時計 (hidokei) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Kazakh: күн сағаттары (kün sağattary) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Khmer: នាឡិកាព្រះអាទិត្យ (niele’kaa preah aatɨt) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Korean: 해시계 (haesigye) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Lao: ນາລິກາແດດ (nā li kā dǣt) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Latin: sōlārium hōrologium — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Latin: sōlārium — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Latvian: saules pulkstenis — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Ligurian: relêuio a sô — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Lithuanian: saulės laikrodis — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Macedonian: сончев часовник (sončev časovnik) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Malay: jam matahari — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Malayalam: സൂര്യഘടികാരം (sūryaghaṭikāraṁ) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Māori: karaka ātārangi — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Norwegian Bokmål: solur — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: solur — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Occitan: mòstra de solelh — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Old English: sōlmerca — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Old English: dæġmǣl — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Persian: ساعت آفتابی (sâ'at-e âftâbi) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Plautdietsch: Sonnenklock — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Polish: zegar słoneczny — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Portuguese: relógio de sol — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Portuguese: relógio do sol — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Portuguese: relógio solar — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Portuguese: solário — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Romanian: ceas solar — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Romanian: cadran solar — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Russian: со́лнечные часы́ (sólnečnyje časý) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Scottish Gaelic: uaireadair-grèine — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Serbo-Croatian: сунчаник — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Serbo-Croatian: сунчани сат — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Serbo-Croatian: сунчани часовник — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Serbo-Croatian: sunčanik — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Serbo-Croatian: sunčani sat — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Serbo-Croatian: sunčani časovnik — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Sicilian: miridiana — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Slovak: slnečné hodiny — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Slovene: sónčna úra — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Spanish: reloj solar — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Spanish: reloj de sol — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Swahili: bonyeza — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Swedish: solur — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Tagalog: oras-araw — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Tagalog: kuwadrante — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Tamil: சூரிய மணிகாட்டி (cūriya maṇikāṭṭi) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Telugu: నీడగడియారము (nīḍagaḍiyāramu) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Telugu: సూర్యఘంట (sūryaghaṇṭa) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Thai: นาฬิกาแดด (naa-lí-gaa-dɛ̀ɛt) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Turkish: güneş saati — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Ottoman Turkish: گونش ساعتی (güneş saʾati) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Ukrainian: со́нячний годи́нник (sónjačnyj hodýnnyk) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Vietnamese: đồng hồ mặt trời — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Volapük: solaglok — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Walloon: cwadran solaire — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Welsh: deial haul — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow
  • Yiddish: זון־זײגער (zun-zeyger) — device noting the time of day by the position of a shadow