in astronomy, an Arabic word denoting circles of the sphere passing through the center of the sun, or a star, parallel to the horizon, being the same as Parallels of Altitude.

ALMUCANTARS-Staff, is an instrument usually made of pear-tree or box, having an arch of fifteen degrees used to take observations of the sun, about the time of its rising and setting; in order to find the amplitude, and consequently the variation of the compass.