Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Circinus

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

CIR'CINUS (διαβήτης). A pair of compasses, employed by carpenters, architects, masons, and sculptors, for describing circles, measuring distances, or taking the thickness of solids. (Caes. B. G. i. 38. Vitruv. iix. 8. 2.) The illustration (Circinus/1.1) represents three sorts of compasses, similar to those still in use; on the right a pair of proportional compasses, on the left a pair of callipers, and a small common compass in the centre, all copied from originals found at Pompeii.

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