'astronomical fractions' definitions:

Definition of 'astronomical fractions'

From: GCIDE
  • Sexagesimal \Sex`a*ges"i*mal\, a. [Cf. F. sexag['e]simal.] Pertaining to, or founded on, the number sixty. [1913 Webster]
  • Sexagesimal fractions or Sexagesimal numbers (Arith. & Alg.), those fractions whose denominators are some power of sixty; as, 1/60, 1/3600, 1/216000; -- called also astronomical fractions, because formerly there were no others used in astronomical calculations.
  • Sexagesimal arithmetic, or Sexagenary arithmetic, the method of computing by the sexagenary scale, or by sixties.
  • Sexagesimal scale (Math.), the sexagenary scale. [1913 Webster]