Why this word is great
PELORUS — [Noun] A navigational instrument for measuring the relative bearing of a fixed object from a vessel or aircraft. From the proper name Pelorus, reportedly Hannibal's pilot, from Greek Pēloros (originally connoting "monstrous" or "prodigious"), suggesting the awe of early seafarers confronting the vast unknown. Unlike a "compass" (which submits to the earth’s magnetic field) or a "sextant" (which chases celestial angles), the pelorus is an instrument of terrestrial fidelity—a pivot of pure geometry. It is the brass ring clamped to the ship’s rail, the lubber line trembling against a distant lighthouse, the steady hand of the navigator aligning the vanes with a headland’s silhouette. In an age of satellites, it remains a stubborn monument to the human eye’s hunger for fixed points in a shifting world.