"backstaff" meaning in English

See backstaff in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: backstaffs [plural], backstaves [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|s|backstaves}} backstaff (plural backstaffs or backstaves)
  1. (nautical) An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude. Wikipedia link: backstaff Categories (topical): Nautical
    Sense id: en-backstaff-en-noun-Dnm2RGjg Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Topics: nautical, transport

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backstaffs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backstaves",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "backstaves"
      },
      "expansion": "backstaff (plural backstaffs or backstaves)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Nautical",
          "orig": "en:Nautical",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude."
      ],
      "id": "en-backstaff-en-noun-Dnm2RGjg",
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "navigational",
          "navigational"
        ],
        [
          "instrument",
          "instrument"
        ],
        [
          "measuring",
          "measuring"
        ],
        [
          "altitude",
          "altitude"
        ],
        [
          "sun",
          "sun"
        ],
        [
          "calculating",
          "calculating"
        ],
        [
          "latitude",
          "latitude"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "backstaff"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backstaff"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backstaffs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backstaves",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "backstaves"
      },
      "expansion": "backstaff (plural backstaffs or backstaves)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English nouns with irregular plurals",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Nautical"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "navigational",
          "navigational"
        ],
        [
          "instrument",
          "instrument"
        ],
        [
          "measuring",
          "measuring"
        ],
        [
          "altitude",
          "altitude"
        ],
        [
          "sun",
          "sun"
        ],
        [
          "calculating",
          "calculating"
        ],
        [
          "latitude",
          "latitude"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) An early navigational instrument for measuring the altitude of the sun and hence calculating latitude."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "backstaff"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "backstaff"
}

Download raw JSONL data for backstaff meaning in English (1.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-03 using wiktextract (aeaf2a1 and fb63907). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.