As far as I know this name just applies to the "specially" designed sundials used in some beaches and swimming pools in Algarve and Madeira island to advise the most "red" hours... (it was a topic of discussion some time ago too) The portuguese name is, as Fernando pointed "relogio de sol" (with accute in the first o) but is also known the use of "quadrante solar", both related to the spanish and french names.
Antonio Fernando Cabral wrote: > Thibaud Taudin-Chabot wrote: > > > I came also across the word 'semaforo solar'. Is that an incorrect use? > > Is this a joke? I can't see any meaning in it. Do you brothers from > Portugal see any meaning here? > > I could imagine an instrument that indicates if the sun is shining or not. > We could call that object a "semaforo solar". Even in this case > it would be pushed too far. > > As you all know, "semaforo" (semaphore) means indicator, flag, > signalizer, etc. So a "semaforo solar" would be some kind of > signal based on the sunshine. > > Perhaps a device lost people > could use to send signals to airplanes saying indicating they > need help. This kind of usage would make sense to me. > > - fernando
