Octans Definition

ŏktănz

noun

A S constellation containing the celestial pole.

Webster's New World

pronoun

(astronomy) A small circumpolar constellation of the southern sky, said to resemble an octant. It lies closest to the southern celestial pole of any constellation.

Wiktionary

Origin of Octans

Latin Octāns half quadrant from octō eight oktō(u) in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Named by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1763. From Latin octans, an "octant"

From Wiktionary