compass means A magnetic or electronic device used to determine the cardinal directions (usually magnetic or true north). It carries an Arena rating of 1763, earned across 19 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, compass ranks #139 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #357 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,918 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #4,939 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words.
compass is pronounced /ˈkʌmpəs/.
Why “compass” is a great word
A device, typically magnetic, used for determining direction relative to the earth's geographic or magnetic poles. 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"). Unlike a *map*, which presents the world as a fixed tableau, or a *gyroscope*, which spins in defiant isolation from the terrain, a compass hums with a silent, magnetic conversation with the planet itself. It is the tremor in the needle as it finds north in a sunless wood, the steady lodestar for a hand tracing a course on vellum, the small circle of brass cupped in a hiker's palm when fog erases the trail—the conviction that somewhere, invisible but absolute, remains a reference point by which to measure one's own uncertain steps.
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.
noun
- A magnetic or electronic device used to determine the cardinal directions (usually magnetic or true north).
- A pair of compasses (a device used to draw circular arcs and transfer length measurements).e.g.“to fix one foot of their compass wherever they please” — 1701, Jonathan Swift, chapter 5, in A Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome:
- The range of notes of a musical instrument or voice.e.g.“You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass.” — c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggar
- A space within limits; an area.e.g.“In going up the Missisippi ^([sic]), we meet with nothing remarkable before we come to the Detour aux Anglois, the English Reach: in that part the river takes a large compass.” — 1763, M. Le Page Du Pratz, History of Louisiana, PG, page 47:
- An enclosing limit; a boundary, a circumference.e.g.“within the compass of an encircling wall”
- Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; used with within.e.g.“In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed.” — c. 1610, John Davies, Historical Tracts:
- Synonym of scope.e.g.“the compass of his argument” — c. 1806–1809 (date written), William Wordsworth, “(please specify the page)”, in The Excursion, being a Portion of The Recluse, a Poem, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], publishe
- Range, reach.
- A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.e.g.“This day I breathed first; time is come round, / And where I did begin, there shall I end; / My life is run his compass.” — 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] B
- A curved circular form.
adv
- In a circuit; round about.
verb
- To surround; to encircle; to environ; to stretch round.e.g.“Now all the blessings
Of a glad father compass thee about!” — 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published
- To go about or round entirely; to traverse.e.g.“So she goeth around the hill compassing.” — 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 174:
- To accomplish; to reach; to achieve; to obtain.
- To plot; to scheme (against someone).e.g.“That he plotted and compassed to raise Sedition and Rebellion [...]” — 1600, R. Bagshaw, “The Arraignment and Judgement of Captain Thomas Lee”, in Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials, volume 1, published 1809, pages 1403–04:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.