Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Analemma

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

ANALEM'MA (ἀνάλημμα). Properly a Greek word, used to designate any thing which serves as an underprop; and especially a wall, pier, or buttress constituting the substructure of a building (Dion. Hal. iii. 69.), for which the proper Latin term is Substructio. The Romans adopted it to signify the pedestal upon which a sundial was erected, often seen in pictures and bas-reliefs as a square pillar, or short column (Winkelm. Mon. Ant. Ined. No. 157. 185.); but Vitruvius, who uses the word, applies it incorrectly to the dial itself (Vitruv. ix. 1. 1. Schneider ad l.) In the illustration (Analemma/1.1), copied from a silver cup found at Porto d'Anzio, only a portion of the analemma is drawn; but that is sufficient to show what is meant: the whole consists of a square pilaster about five feet high, with a base at the bottom corresponding with the cornice at the top.

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  Analemma/1.1