compass

Definition

A magnetic or electronic device used to determine the cardinal directions (usually magnetic or true north).

Etymology

From Middle English compas (“a circle, circuit, limit, form, a mathematical instrument”), from Old French compas, from Medieval Latin compassus (“a circle, a circuit”), from Latin com- (“together”) + passus (“a pace, step, later a pass, way, route”); see pass, pace.

Example Sentences

• "[H]ow many Seas to our fore-fathers impaſſable, for want of the Compaſſe?"
• "1689/1690, John Locke, On improvement of understanding He that […] first discovered the use of the compass […] did more for the propagation of knowledge […] than those who built workhouses."
• "a glance at his compass would have shown him that a northerly course instead of an easterly could not be right"