noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A type of sighting device used for measuring angles.
2. 2
   surveying instrument used with a plane table for drawing lines of sight on a distant object and for measuring angles wordnet
3. 3
   surveying instrument consisting of the upper movable part of a theodolite including the telescope and its attachments wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

alidadalidaddiopterturning boardturning board

Etymology

From French alidade, from Spanish alidada, from Arabic العِضَادَة (al-ʕiḍāda), perhaps from عَضُد (ʕaḍud, “upper arm”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.