Dial. An instrument for showing the time of day from the shadow of a style or gnomon on a graduated arc or surface; rendered "steps" in Authorized Version, Exodus 20:26; 2 Kings 10:19, and "degrees," 2 Kings 20:9-11; Isaiah 38:8, where, to give a consistent rendering, we should read with the margin the "degrees" rather than the "dial" of Ahaz.

It is probable that the dial of Ahaz was really a series of steps or stairs, and that the shadow, (perhaps of some column or obelisk on the top), fell on a greater or smaller number of them according as the sun was low or high. The terrace of a palace might easily be thus ornamented.