What does "sundial" mean?

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.

What is a synonym for "sundial"?

Common synonyms include: dial, horologe, horologium, solarium, timepiece, watch.

Pronounced //ˈsʌnˌdaɪ.əl//.

//ˈsʌnˌdaɪ.əl// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

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.
"The birdbath includes a small gnomon that acts as a sundial with markings on the basin if it's aligned correctly with the sun."
2
timepiece that indicates the daylight hours by the shadow that the gnomon casts on a calibrated dial wordnet
3
A sea snail of the genus Heliacus.

"There's a sundial in the garden."

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

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