Category:Dial

Di"al, n. Etym: [LL. dialis daily, fr. L. dies day. See Deity.]

1. An instrument, formerly much used for showing the time of day from the shadow of a style or gnomon on a graduated arc or surface; esp., a sundial; but there are lunar and astral dials. The style or gnomon is usually parallel to the earth's axis, but the dial plate may be either horizontal or vertical.

2. The graduated face of a timepiece, on which the time of day is shown by pointers or hands.

3. A miner's compass. Dial bird (Zoöl.), an Indian bird (Copsychus saularius), allied to the European robin. The name is also given to other related species. -- Dial lock, a lock provided with one or more plates having numbers or letters upon them. These plates must be adjusted in a certain determined way before the lock can be operated. -- Dial plate, the plane or disk of a dial or timepiece on which lines and figures for indicating the time are placed.

dial Di"al, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dialed or Dialled; p. pr. & vb. n. Dialing or Dialling.]

1. To measure with a dial. Hours of that true time which is dialed in Heaven. Talfourd.

2. (Mining)

Defn: To survey with a dial. Raymond.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Dial - For the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible, erected by Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isaiah 38:8). The Hebrew word ( ma'aloth ) is rendered "steps" in Exodus 20:26, 1 Kings 10:19, and "degrees" in 2 Kings 20:9, 2 Kings 20:10, 2 Kings 20:11. The ma'aloth was probably stairs on which the shadow of a column or obelisk placed on the top fell. The shadow would cover a greater or smaller number of steps, according as the sun was low or high. Probably the sun-dial was a Babylonian invention. Daniel at Babylon (Daniel 3:6) is the first to make mention of the "hour."