1. a constellation in the northern sky near Leo and Hydra
Usage: astronomy
2. an ancient Roman bronze coin worth one-sixth of an as
Usage: historical; numismatics

Examples

• Sextans is a faint constellation that can be difficult to observe without a telescope.
• The astronomer pointed out Sextans between the constellations Leo and Hydra.
• Ancient Roman coins included the sextans, which had relatively low value.
• The museum displayed several sextans coins from the Roman Republic period.
• Sextans contains few bright stars visible to the naked eye.