Compass Meaning
/ˈkʌmpəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA magnetic or electronic device used to determine the cardinal directions (usually magnetic or true north).
nounA pair of compasses (a device used to draw circular arcs and transfer length measurements).
Sentence Examples
Hikers need to carry a compass with them to find their way through the woods.
Charles Walcot investigated the magnetic compass bearing sense in pigeons.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hiker used a ____ to find the correct direction through the dense forest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
If you ever get lost in the woods, use a ____ to find north.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[H]ow many Seas to our fore-fathers impaſſable, for want of the Compaſſe?"
— 1625, [Samuel] Purchas, “Of the Improvement of Nauigation in Later Times, […]”, in Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], 1st part, London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, § I, page 2:
"a glance at his compass would have shown him that a northerly course instead of an easterly could not be right"
— 1890, Wilhelm Westhofen, The Forth Bridge:
"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:
"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 Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
"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:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hiker used a ____ to find the correct direction through the dense forest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
If you ever get lost in the woods, use a ____ to find north.