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Points of the compass

January 18, 2023

The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest—each located halfway between two cardinal directions. Some disciplines such as meteorology and navigation further divide the compass with additional azimuths. Within European tradition, a fully defined compass has 32 'points' (and any finer subdivisions are described in fractions of points).[1]

Compass points are valuable in that they allow a user to refer to a specific azimuth in a colloquial fashion, without having to compute or remember degrees.[2]

Designations

Several terms redirect here. For other uses, see Northeast (disambiguation), Northwest (disambiguation), Southeast (disambiguation) and Southwest (disambiguation).

The names of the compass point directions follow these rules:

8-wind compass rose

 
8-wind compass rose
  • The four cardinal directions are north (N), east (E), south (S), west (W), at 90° angles on the compass rose.
  • The four intercardinal (or ordinal) directions are formed by bisecting the above, giving: northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW) and northwest (NW). In English and many other tongues, these are compound words. Different style guides for the four mandate spaces, dashes, or none.
    • In Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hungarian, Ido, Italian, Japanese (usually), Macedonian, Norwegian (both Bokmal and Nynorsk), Polish, Portuguese, Romansch, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian and Welsh the part meaning north or south precedes the part meaning east or west.[3]
    • In Chinese, Vietnamese, Gaelic and less commonly in Japanese, the part meaning east or west precedes the other.
    • In Estonian, Finnish, the "Italianate system", and Telugu, the intercardinals have distinct words.[3]
  • The eight principal winds (or main winds) are the set union of the cardinals and intercardinals. Taken in turn, each is 45° from the next. These form the 8-wind compass rose, the rose at its usual basic level today.

16-wind compass rose

  • The eight half-winds are the direction points obtained by bisecting the angles between the principal winds. The half-winds are north-northeast (NNE), east-northeast (ENE), east-southeast (ESE), south-southeast (SSE), south-southwest (SSW), west-southwest (WSW), west-northwest (WNW) and north-northwest (NNW). The name of each half-wind is constructed by combining the names of the principal winds to either side, with the cardinal wind coming first and the intercardinal wind second.
  • The eight principal winds and the eight half-winds together form the 16-wind compass rose, with each compass point at a 22+1⁄2° angle from its two neighbours.

32-wind compass rose

 
32-point compass rose
  • The sixteen quarter-winds are the direction points obtained by bisecting the angles between the points on the 16-wind compass rose (above). The quarter-winds are: (in first quadrant) north by east (NbE), northeast by north (NEbN), northeast by east (NEbE), and east by north (EbN); (in second quadrant) east by south (EbS), southeast by east (SEbE), southeast by south (SEbS), and south by east (SbE); (in third quadrant) south by west (SbW), southwest by south (SWbS), southwest by west (SWbW), and west by south (WbS); (in fourth quadrant) west by north (WbN), northwest by west (NWbW), northwest by north (NWbN), and north by west (NbW).[4][5]
  • All of the points in the 16-wind compass rose plus the sixteen quarter-winds together form the 32-wind compass rose.
  • If breaking down for study/signalling the subcomponents are called the "principal" followed by the "cardinal" wind/direction. As a mnemonic (memory device), minds familiar encode the meaning of "X by Y" as "one small measure" from X towards Y". It can be noted such measure is 11+1⁄4°. So, for example, "northeast by east" means "one quarter of the gap from NE towards E".

In summary, the 32-wind compass rose comes from the eight principal winds, eight half-winds and sixteen quarter-winds combined, with each compass point at an 11+1⁄4° angle from the next.

In the mariner's exercise of boxing the compass, all thirty-two points of the compass are named in clockwise order.[6]

Half- and quarter-points

 
Compass rose from "American Practical Navigator" 1916

By the middle of the 18th century, the 32-point system had been further extended by using half- and quarter-points to give a total of 128 directions.[7] These fractional points are named by appending, for example 1/4east, 1/2east, or 3/4east to the name of one of the 32 points. Each of the 96 fractional points can be named in two ways, depending on which of the two adjoining whole points is used, for example, N3/4E is equivalent to NbE1/4N. Either form is easily understood, but alternative conventions as to correct usage developed in different countries and organisations. "It is the custom in the United States Navy to box from north and south toward east and west, with the exception that divisions adjacent to a cardinal or inter-cardinal point are always referred to that point."[8] The Royal Navy used the additional "rule that quarter points were never read from a point beginning and ending with the same letter."[9]

Compass roses very rarely named the fractional points and only showed small, unlabelled markers as a guide for helmsmen.

128 compass directions

The table below shows how each of the 128 directions are named. The first two columns give the number of points and degrees clockwise from north. The third gives the equivalent bearing to the nearest degree from north or south towards east or west. The "CW" column gives the fractional-point bearings increasing in the clockwise direction and "CCW" counterclockwise. The final three columns show three common naming conventions: No "by" avoids the use of "by" with fractional points. Colour coding shows whether each of the three naming systems matches the "CW" or "CCW" column.

Traditional Mediterranean compass points

The traditional compass rose of eight winds (and its 16-wind and 32-wind derivatives) was invented by seafarers in the Mediterranean Sea during the Middle Ages (with no obvious connection to the twelve classical compass winds of the ancient Greeks and Romans). The traditional mariner's wind names were expressed in Italian, or more precisely, the Italianate Mediterranean lingua franca common among sailors in the 13th and 14th centuries, which was principally composed of Genoese (Ligurian), mixed with Venetian, Sicilian, Provençal, Catalan, Greek and Arabic terms from around the Mediterranean basin.

 
32-wind compass with traditional names (and traditional colour code)

This Italianate patois was used to designate the names of the principal winds on the compass rose found in mariners' compasses and portolan charts of the 14th and 15th centuries. The "traditional" names of the eight principal winds are:

  • (N) – Tramontana
  • (NE) – Greco (or Bora in some Venetian sources)
  • (E) – Levante (sometimes Oriente)
  • (SE) – Scirocco (or Exaloc in Catalan)
  • (S) – Ostro (or Mezzogiorno in Venetian)
  • (SW) – Libeccio (or Garbino, Eissalot in Provençal)
  • (W) – Ponente (or Zephyrus in Greek)
  • (NW) – Maestro (or Mistral in Provençal)

Local spelling variations are far more numerous than listed, e.g. Tramutana, Gregale, Grecho, Sirocco, Xaloc, Lebeg, Libezo, Leveche, Mezzodi, Migjorn, Magistro, Mestre, etc. Traditional compass roses will typically have the initials T, G, L, S, O, L, P, and M on the main points. Portolan charts also colour-coded the compass winds: black for the eight principal winds, green for the eight half-winds, and red for the sixteen quarter-winds.

Each half-wind name is simply a combination of the two principal winds that it bisects, with the shortest name usually placed first, for example: NNE is "Greco-Tramontana"; ENE is "Greco-Levante"; SSE is "Ostro-Scirocco", etc. The quarter winds are expressed with an Italian phrase, "Quarto di X verso Y" (pronounced [ˈkwarto di X ˈvɛrso Y][10][11][12] one quarter from X towards Y), or "X al Y" (X to Y) or "X per Y" (X by Y). There are no irregularities to trip over; the closest principal wind always comes first, the more distant one second, for example: north-by-east is "Quarto di Tramontana verso Greco"; and northeast-by-north is "Quarto di Greco verso Tramontana".

The table below shows how the 32 compass points are named. Each point has an angular range of 11+1⁄4 degrees where the azimuth midpoint is the horizontal angular direction (clockwise from north) of the given compass bearing; minimum is the lower (counterclockwise) angular limit of the compass point; and maximum is the upper (clockwise) angular limit of the compass point.

Chinese compass points

Navigation texts dating from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties in China use a 24-pointed compass with named directions. These are based on the twelve Earthly Branches, which also form the basis of the Chinese zodiac. When a single direction is specified, it may be prefaced by the character 單 (meaning single) or 丹.

 
Ming Dynasty 24-pointed compass

Headings mid-way in-between are compounds as in English. For instance, 癸子 refers to the direction halfway between point 子 and point 癸, or 7+1⁄2°. This technique is referred to as a double-needle (雙針) compass.

Point Ordinal Name Angle
子 zǐ north 0° or 360°
癸 guǐ 15°
丑 chǒu 30°
艮 gěn northeast 45°
寅 yín 60°
甲 jiǎ 75°
卯 mǎo east 90°
乙 yǐ 105°
辰 chén 120°
巽 xùn southeast 135°
巳 sì 150°
丙 bǐng 165°
午 wǔ south 180°
丁 dīng 195°
未 wèi 210°
坤 kūn southwest 225°
申 shēn 240°
庚 gēng 255°
酉 yǒu west 270°
辛 xīn 285°
戌 xū 300°
乾 qián northwest 315°
亥 hài 330°
壬 rén 345°

See also

References

  1. ^ Evans, Frederick John, ed. (1859). "Notes on the Magnetism of Ships". Pamphlets on British shipping. 1785–1861. p. 8 (p. 433 of PDF). ISBN 0-217-85167-3. A deviation table having been formed by any of the processes now so generally understood, either on the thirty-two points of the compass, the sixteen intermediate, or the eight principal points
  2. ^ Boardman, David (1983). Graphicacy and Geography Teaching. p. 41. In particular they should learn that wind direction is always stated as the direction from which, and not to which, the wind is blowing. Once children have grasped these eight points they can learn the full sixteen points of the compass.
  3. ^ a b See Wiktionary definitions: north; northeast; east; southeast; south; southwest; west; northwest
  4. ^ Webb Aintablian, Xanthe (June 28, 2018). "An Overview and History of the Compass". thoughtco.com. Dotdash. from the original on July 6, 2018.
  5. ^ Lee, Robert E. (2011). . University of Washington. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015.
  6. ^ George Payn Quackenbos A Natural Philosophy: Embracing the Most Recent Discoveries 1860 "Mentioning the mariner's compass: the points of the compass in their order is called boxing the compass. — The compass box is suspended within a larger box by means of two brass hoops, or gimbals as they are called, supported at opposite ..."
  7. ^ E. Chambers Cyclopaedia: or, an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Science, 5th Ed, 1743, pp. 206–7, "Points of the Compass, or Horizon, &c., in Geography and Navigation, are the points of division when the whole circle, quite around, is divided into 32 equal parts. These points are therefore at the distance of the 32d part of the circuit, or 11° 15′, from each other; hence 5° 37+1/2′ is the distance of the half points and 2° 48+3/4′ is the distance of the quarter points.
  8. ^ Bowditch, Nathaniel (1916). American Practical Navigator: An Epitome of Navigation and Nautical Astronomy. United States Hydrographic Office. p. 15.
  9. ^ Kemp, Peter, ed. (1988). "Box the Compass". The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. Oxford University Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-19-282084-2.
  10. ^ "quarto". WordReference.com. Retrieved December 2, 2018. English translation: fourth, quarter
  11. ^ "di". WordReference.com. Retrieved December 2, 2018. English translation: of, from...
  12. ^ "verso". WordReference.com. Retrieved December 2, 2018. English translation: towards, toward, close to, near to

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Compass rose.
  • – discusses the origins of the names for compass directions.

January 18, 2023
points, compass, points, compass, horizontal, radially, arrayed, compass, directions, azimuths, used, navigation, cartography, compass, rose, primarily, composed, four, cardinal, directions, north, east, south, west, each, separated, degrees, secondarily, divi. The points of the compass are a set of horizontal radially arrayed compass directions or azimuths used in navigation and cartography A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions north east south and west each separated by 90 degrees and secondarily divided by four ordinal intercardinal directions northeast southeast southwest and northwest each located halfway between two cardinal directions Some disciplines such as meteorology and navigation further divide the compass with additional azimuths Within European tradition a fully defined compass has 32 points and any finer subdivisions are described in fractions of points 1 Compass points are valuable in that they allow a user to refer to a specific azimuth in a colloquial fashion without having to compute or remember degrees 2 Contents 1 Designations 1 1 8 wind compass rose 1 2 16 wind compass rose 1 3 32 wind compass rose 1 4 Half and quarter points 1 5 128 compass directions 2 Traditional Mediterranean compass points 3 Chinese compass points 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksDesignations EditSeveral terms redirect here For other uses see Northeast disambiguation Northwest disambiguation Southeast disambiguation and Southwest disambiguation The names of the compass point directions follow these rules 8 wind compass rose Edit 8 wind compass rose The four cardinal directions are north N east E south S west W at 90 angles on the compass rose The four intercardinal or ordinal directions are formed by bisecting the above giving northeast NE southeast SE southwest SW and northwest NW In English and many other tongues these are compound words Different style guides for the four mandate spaces dashes or none In Bulgarian Catalan Czech Danish Dutch English Esperanto French Galician German Greek Hungarian Ido Italian Japanese usually Macedonian Norwegian both Bokmal and Nynorsk Polish Portuguese Romansch Russian Serbian Croatian Spanish Swedish Ukrainian and Welsh the part meaning north or south precedes the part meaning east or west 3 In Chinese Vietnamese Gaelic and less commonly in Japanese the part meaning east or west precedes the other In Estonian Finnish the Italianate system and Telugu the intercardinals have distinct words 3 The eight principal winds or main winds are the set union of the cardinals and intercardinals Taken in turn each is 45 from the next These form the 8 wind compass rose the rose at its usual basic level today 16 wind compass rose Edit The eight half winds are the direction points obtained by bisecting the angles between the principal winds The half winds are north northeast NNE east northeast ENE east southeast ESE south southeast SSE south southwest SSW west southwest WSW west northwest WNW and north northwest NNW The name of each half wind is constructed by combining the names of the principal winds to either side with the cardinal wind coming first and the intercardinal wind second The eight principal winds and the eight half winds together form the 16 wind compass rose with each compass point at a 22 1 2 angle from its two neighbours 32 wind compass rose Edit 32 point compass rose The sixteen quarter winds are the direction points obtained by bisecting the angles between the points on the 16 wind compass rose above The quarter winds are in first quadrant north by east NbE northeast by north NEbN northeast by east NEbE and east by north EbN in second quadrant east by south EbS southeast by east SEbE southeast by south SEbS and south by east SbE in third quadrant south by west SbW southwest by south SWbS southwest by west SWbW and west by south WbS in fourth quadrant west by north WbN northwest by west NWbW northwest by north NWbN and north by west NbW 4 5 All of the points in the 16 wind compass rose plus the sixteen quarter winds together form the 32 wind compass rose If breaking down for study signalling the subcomponents are called the principal followed by the cardinal wind direction As a mnemonic memory device minds familiar encode the meaning of X by Y as one small measure from X towards Y It can be noted such measure is 11 1 4 So for example northeast by east means one quarter of the gap from NE towards E In summary the 32 wind compass rose comes from the eight principal winds eight half winds and sixteen quarter winds combined with each compass point at an 11 1 4 angle from the next In the mariner s exercise of boxing the compass all thirty two points of the compass are named in clockwise order 6 Half and quarter points Edit Compass rose from American Practical Navigator 1916 By the middle of the 18th century the 32 point system had been further extended by using half and quarter points to give a total of 128 directions 7 These fractional points are named by appending for example 1 4 east 1 2 east or 3 4 east to the name of one of the 32 points Each of the 96 fractional points can be named in two ways depending on which of the two adjoining whole points is used for example N3 4 E is equivalent to NbE1 4 N Either form is easily understood but alternative conventions as to correct usage developed in different countries and organisations It is the custom in the United States Navy to box from north and south toward east and west with the exception that divisions adjacent to a cardinal or inter cardinal point are always referred to that point 8 The Royal Navy used the additional rule that quarter points were never read from a point beginning and ending with the same letter 9 Compass roses very rarely named the fractional points and only showed small unlabelled markers as a guide for helmsmen 128 compass directions Edit The table below shows how each of the 128 directions are named The first two columns give the number of points and degrees clockwise from north The third gives the equivalent bearing to the nearest degree from north or south towards east or west The CW column gives the fractional point bearings increasing in the clockwise direction and CCW counterclockwise The final three columns show three common naming conventions No by avoids the use of by with fractional points Colour coding shows whether each of the three naming systems matches the CW or CCW column Points Degrees Bearing CW CCW No by United States Navy USN Royal Navy RN 0 00 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 N N00 1 4 00 2 48 45 N 0 3 E N1 4 E NbE3 4 N N1 4 E N1 4 E N1 4 E00 1 2 00 5 37 30 N 0 6 E N1 2 E NbE1 2 N N1 2 E N1 2 E N1 2 E00 3 4 00 8 26 15 N 0 8 E N3 4 E NbE1 4 N N3 4 E N3 4 E N3 4 E0 10 0 0 11 15 0 0 N 11 E NbE0 1 1 4 0 14 0 3 45 N 14 E NbE1 4 E NNE3 4 N NNE3 4 N NbE1 4 E NbE1 4 E0 1 1 2 0 16 52 30 N 17 E NbE1 2 E NNE1 2 N NNE1 2 N NbE1 2 E NbE1 2 E0 1 3 4 0 19 41 15 N 20 E NbE3 4 E NNE1 4 N NNE1 4 N NbE3 4 E NbE3 4 E0 20 0 0 22 30 0 0 N 23 E NNE0 2 1 4 0 25 18 45 N 25 E NNE1 4 E NEbN3 4 N NNE1 4 E NNE1 4 E NNE1 4 E0 2 1 2 0 28 0 7 30 N 28 E NNE1 2 E NEbN1 2 N NNE1 2 E NNE1 2 E NNE1 2 E0 2 3 4 0 30 56 15 N 31 E NNE3 4 E NEbN1 4 N NNE3 4 E NNE3 4 E NNE3 4 E0 30 0 0 33 45 0 0 N 34 E NEbN0 3 1 4 0 36 33 45 N 37 E NEbN1 4 E NE3 4 N NE3 4 N NE3 4 N NE3 4 N0 3 1 2 0 39 22 30 N 39 E NEbN1 2 E NE1 2 N NE1 2 N NE1 2 N NE1 2 N0 3 3 4 0 42 11 15 N 42 E NEbN3 4 E NE1 4 N NE1 4 N NE1 4 N NE1 4 N0 40 0 0 45 0 0 0 0 N 45 E NE0 4 1 4 0 47 48 45 N 48 E NE1 4 E NEbE3 4 N NE1 4 E NE1 4 E NE1 4 E0 4 1 2 0 50 37 30 N 51 E NE1 2 E NEbE1 2 N NE1 2 E NE1 2 E NE1 2 E0 4 3 4 0 53 26 15 N 53 E NE3 4 E NEbE1 4 N NE3 4 E NE3 4 E NE3 4 E0 50 0 0 56 15 0 0 N 56 E NEbE0 5 1 4 0 59 0 3 45 N 59 E NEbE1 4 E ENE3 4 N ENE3 4 N NEbE1 4 E NEbE1 4 E0 5 1 2 0 61 52 30 N 62 E NEbE1 2 E ENE1 2 N ENE1 2 N NEbE1 2 E NEbE1 2 E0 5 3 4 0 64 41 15 N 65 E NEbE3 4 E ENE1 4 N ENE1 4 N NEbE3 4 E NEbE3 4 E0 60 0 0 67 30 0 0 N 68 E ENE0 6 1 4 0 70 18 45 N 70 E ENE1 4 E EbN3 4 N ENE1 4 E ENE1 4 E EbN3 4 N0 6 1 2 0 73 0 7 30 N 73 E ENE1 2 E EbN1 2 N ENE1 2 E ENE1 2 E EbN1 2 N0 6 3 4 0 75 56 15 N 76 E ENE3 4 E EbN1 4 N ENE3 4 E ENE3 4 E EbN1 4 N0 70 0 0 78 45 0 0 N 79 E EbN0 7 1 4 0 81 33 45 N 82 E EbN1 4 E E3 4 N E3 4 N E3 4 N E3 4 N0 7 1 2 0 84 22 30 N 84 E EbN1 2 E E1 2 N E1 2 N E1 2 N E1 2 N0 7 3 4 0 87 11 15 N 87 E EbN3 4 E E1 4 N E1 4 N E1 4 N E1 4 N0 80 0 0 90 0 0 0 0 E E0 8 1 4 0 92 48 45 S 87 E E1 4 S EbS3 4 E E1 4 S E1 4 S E1 4 S0 8 1 2 0 95 37 30 S 84 E E1 2 S EbS1 2 E E1 2 S E1 2 S E1 2 S0 8 3 4 0 98 26 15 S 82 E E3 4 S EbS1 4 E E3 4 S E3 4 S E3 4 S0 90 0 101 15 0 0 S 79 E EbS0 9 1 4 104 0 3 45 S 76 E EbS1 4 S ESE3 4 E ESE3 4 E ESE3 4 E EbS1 4 S0 9 1 2 106 52 30 S 73 E EbS1 2 S ESE1 2 E ESE1 2 E ESE1 2 E EbS1 2 S0 9 3 4 109 41 15 S 70 E EbS3 4 S ESE1 4 E ESE1 4 E ESE1 4 E EbS3 4 S100 0 112 30 0 0 S 68 E ESE10 1 4 115 18 45 S 65 E ESE1 4 S SEbE3 4 E ESE1 4 S SEbE3 4 E SEbE3 4 E10 1 2 118 0 7 30 S 62 E ESE1 2 S SEbE1 2 E ESE1 2 S SEbE1 2 E SEbE1 2 E10 3 4 120 56 15 S 59 E ESE3 4 S SEbE1 4 E ESE3 4 S SEbE1 4 E SEbE1 4 E110 0 123 45 0 0 S 56 E SEbE11 1 4 126 33 45 S 53 E SEbE1 4 S SE3 4 E SE3 4 E SE3 4 E SE3 4 E11 1 2 129 22 30 S 51 E SEbE1 2 S SE1 2 E SE1 2 E SE1 2 E SE1 2 E11 3 4 132 11 15 S 48 E SEbE3 4 S SE1 4 E SE1 4 E SE1 4 E SE1 4 E120 0 135 0 0 0 0 S 45 E SE12 1 4 137 48 45 S 42 E SE1 4 S SEbS3 4 E SE1 4 S SE1 4 S SE1 4 S12 1 2 140 37 30 S 39 E SE1 2 S SEbS1 2 E SE1 2 S SE1 2 S SE1 2 S12 3 4 143 26 15 S 37 E SE3 4 S SEbS1 4 E SE3 4 S SE3 4 S SE3 4 S130 0 146 15 0 0 S 34 E SEbS13 1 4 149 0 3 45 S 31 E SEbS1 4 S SSE3 4 E SSE3 4 E SSE3 4 E SSE3 4 E13 1 2 151 52 30 S 28 E SEbS1 2 S SSE1 2 E SSE1 2 E SSE1 2 E SSE1 2 E13 3 4 154 41 15 S 25 E SEbS3 4 S SSE1 4 E SSE1 4 E SSE1 4 E SSE1 4 E140 0 157 30 0 0 S 23 E SSE14 1 4 160 18 45 S 20 E SSE1 4 S SbE3 4 E SSE1 4 S SbE3 4 E SbE3 4 E14 1 2 163 0 7 30 S 17 E SSE1 2 S SbE1 2 E SSE1 2 S SbE1 2 E SbE1 2 E14 3 4 165 56 15 S 14 E SSE3 4 S SbE1 4 E SSE3 4 S SbE1 4 E SbE1 4 E150 0 168 45 0 0 S 11 E SbE15 1 4 171 33 45 S 0 8 E SbE1 4 S S3 4 E S3 4 E S3 4 E S3 4 E15 1 2 174 22 30 S 0 6 E SbE1 2 S S1 2 E S1 2 E S1 2 E S1 2 E15 3 4 177 11 15 S 0 3 E SbE3 4 S S1 4 E S1 4 E S1 4 E S1 4 E160 0 180 0 0 0 0 S S16 1 4 182 48 45 S 0 3 W S1 4 W SbW3 4 S S1 4 W S1 4 W S1 4 W16 1 2 185 37 30 S 0 6 W S1 2 W SbW1 2 S S1 2 W S1 2 W S1 2 W16 3 4 188 26 15 S 0 8 W S3 4 W SbW1 4 S S3 4 W S3 4 W S3 4 W170 0 191 15 0 0 S 11 W SbW17 1 4 194 0 3 45 S 14 W SbW1 4 W SSW3 4 S SSW3 4 S SbW1 4 W SbW1 4 W17 1 2 196 52 30 S 17 W SbW1 2 W SSW1 2 S SSW1 2 S SbW1 2 W SbW1 2 W17 3 4 199 41 15 S 20 W SbW3 4 W SSW1 4 S SSW1 4 S SbW3 4 W SbW3 4 W180 0 202 30 0 0 S 23 W SSW18 1 4 205 18 45 S 25 W SSW1 4 W SWbS3 4 S SSW1 4 W SSW1 4 W SSW1 4 W18 1 2 208 0 7 30 S 28 W SSW1 2 W SWbS1 2 S SSW1 2 W SSW1 2 W SSW1 2 W18 3 4 210 56 15 S 31 W SSW3 4 W SWbS1 4 S SSW3 4 W SSW3 4 W SSW3 4 W190 0 213 45 0 0 S 34 W SWbS19 1 4 216 33 45 S 37 W SWbS1 4 W SW3 4 S SW3 4 S SW3 4 S SW3 4 S19 1 2 219 22 30 S 39 W SWbS1 2 W SW1 2 S SW1 2 S SW1 2 S SW1 2 S19 3 4 222 11 15 S 42 W SWbS3 4 W SW1 4 S SW1 4 S SW1 4 S SW1 4 S200 0 225 0 0 0 0 S 45 W SW20 1 4 227 48 45 S 48 W SW1 4 W SWbW3 4 S SW1 4 W SW1 4 W SW1 4 W20 1 2 230 37 30 S 51 W SW1 2 W SWbW1 2 S SW1 2 W SW1 2 W SW1 2 W20 3 4 233 26 15 S 53 W SW3 4 W SWbW1 4 S SW3 4 W SW3 4 W SW3 4 W210 0 236 15 0 0 S 56 W SWbW21 1 4 239 0 3 45 S 59 W SWbW1 4 W WSW3 4 S WSW3 4 S SWbW1 4 W SWbW1 4 W21 1 2 241 52 30 S 62 W SWbW1 2 W WSW1 2 S WSW1 2 S SWbW1 2 W SWbW1 2 W21 3 4 244 41 15 S 65 W SWbW3 4 W WSW1 4 S WSW1 4 S SWbW3 4 W SWbW3 4 W220 0 247 30 0 0 S 68 W WSW22 1 4 250 18 45 S 70 W WSW1 4 W WbS3 4 S WSW1 4 W WSW1 4 W WbS3 4 S22 1 2 253 0 7 30 S 73 W WSW1 2 W WbS1 2 S WSW1 2 W WSW1 2 W WbS1 2 S22 3 4 255 56 15 S 76 W WSW3 4 W WbS1 4 S WSW3 4 W WSW3 4 W WbS1 4 S230 0 258 45 0 0 S 79 W WbS23 1 4 261 33 45 S 82 W WbS1 4 W W3 4 S W3 4 S W3 4 S W3 4 S23 1 2 264 22 30 S 84 W WbS1 2 W W1 2 S W1 2 S W1 2 S W1 2 S23 3 4 267 11 15 S 87 W WbS3 4 W W1 4 S W1 4 S W1 4 S W1 4 S240 0 270 0 0 0 0 W W24 1 4 272 48 45 N 87 W W1 4 N WbN3 4 W W1 4 N W1 4 N W1 4 N24 1 2 275 37 30 N 84 W W1 2 N WbN1 2 W W1 2 N W1 2 N W1 2 N24 3 4 278 26 15 N 82 W W3 4 N WbN1 4 W W3 4 N W3 4 N W3 4 N250 0 281 15 0 0 N 79 W WbN25 1 4 284 0 3 45 N 76 W WbN1 4 N WNW3 4 W WNW3 4 W WNW3 4 W WbN1 4 N25 1 2 286 52 30 N 73 W WbN1 2 N WNW1 2 W WNW1 2 W WNW1 2 W WbN1 2 N25 3 4 289 41 15 N 70 W WbN3 4 N WNW1 4 W WNW1 4 W WNW1 4 W WbN3 4 N260 0 292 30 0 0 N 68 W WNW26 1 4 295 18 45 N 65 W WNW1 4 N NWbW3 4 W WNW1 4 N NWbW3 4 W NWbW3 4 W26 1 2 298 0 7 30 N 62 W WNW1 2 N NWbW1 2 W WNW1 2 N NWbW1 2 W NWbW1 2 W26 3 4 300 56 15 N 59 W WNW3 4 N NWbW1 4 W WNW3 4 N NWbW1 4 W NWbW1 4 W270 0 303 45 0 0 N 56 W NWbW27 1 4 306 33 45 N 53 W NWbW1 4 N NW3 4 W NW3 4 W NW3 4 W NW3 4 W27 1 2 309 22 30 N 51 W NWbW1 2 N NW1 2 W NW1 2 W NW1 2 W NW1 2 W27 3 4 312 11 15 N 48 W NWbW3 4 N NW1 4 W NW1 4 W NW1 4 W NW1 4 W280 0 315 0 0 0 0 N 45 W NW28 1 4 317 48 45 N 42 W NW1 4 N NWbN3 4 W NW1 4 N NW1 4 N NW1 4 N28 1 2 320 37 30 N 39 W NW1 2 N NWbN1 2 W NW1 2 N NW1 2 N NW1 2 N28 3 4 323 26 15 N 37 W NW3 4 N NWbN1 4 W NW3 4 N NW3 4 N NW3 4 N290 0 326 15 0 0 N 34 W NWbN29 1 4 329 0 3 45 N 31 W NWbN1 4 N NNW3 4 W NNW3 4 W NNW3 4 W NNW3 4 W29 1 2 331 52 30 N 28 W NWbN1 2 N NNW1 2 W NNW1 2 W NNW1 2 W NNW1 2 W29 3 4 334 41 15 N 25 W NWbN3 4 N NNW1 4 W NNW1 4 W NNW1 4 W NNW1 4 W300 0 337 30 0 0 N 23 W NNW30 1 4 340 18 45 N 20 W NNW1 4 N NbW3 4 W NNW1 4 N NbW3 4 W NbW3 4 W30 1 2 343 0 7 30 N 17 W NNW1 2 N NbW1 2 W NNW1 2 N NbW1 2 W NbW1 2 W30 3 4 345 56 15 N 14 W NNW3 4 N NbW1 4 W NNW3 4 N NbW1 4 W NbW1 4 W310 0 348 45 0 0 N 11 W NbW31 1 4 351 33 45 N 0 8 W NbW1 4 N N3 4 W N3 4 W N3 4 W N3 4 W31 1 2 354 22 30 N 0 6 W NbW1 2 N N1 2 W N1 2 W N1 2 W N1 2 W31 3 4 357 11 15 N 0 3 W NbW3 4 N N1 4 W N1 4 W N1 4 W N1 4 W320 0 360 0 0 0 0 N N dd dd Traditional Mediterranean compass points EditThe traditional compass rose of eight winds and its 16 wind and 32 wind derivatives was invented by seafarers in the Mediterranean Sea during the Middle Ages with no obvious connection to the twelve classical compass winds of the ancient Greeks and Romans The traditional mariner s wind names were expressed in Italian or more precisely the Italianate Mediterranean lingua franca common among sailors in the 13th and 14th centuries which was principally composed of Genoese Ligurian mixed with Venetian Sicilian Provencal Catalan Greek and Arabic terms from around the Mediterranean basin 32 wind compass with traditional names and traditional colour code This Italianate patois was used to designate the names of the principal winds on the compass rose found in mariners compasses and portolan charts of the 14th and 15th centuries The traditional names of the eight principal winds are N Tramontana NE Greco or Bora in some Venetian sources E Levante sometimes Oriente SE Scirocco or Exaloc in Catalan S Ostro or Mezzogiorno in Venetian SW Libeccio or Garbino Eissalot in Provencal W Ponente or Zephyrus in Greek NW Maestro or Mistral in Provencal Local spelling variations are far more numerous than listed e g Tramutana Gregale Grecho Sirocco Xaloc Lebeg Libezo Leveche Mezzodi Migjorn Magistro Mestre etc Traditional compass roses will typically have the initials T G L S O L P and M on the main points Portolan charts also colour coded the compass winds black for the eight principal winds green for the eight half winds and red for the sixteen quarter winds Each half wind name is simply a combination of the two principal winds that it bisects with the shortest name usually placed first for example NNE is Greco Tramontana ENE is Greco Levante SSE is Ostro Scirocco etc The quarter winds are expressed with an Italian phrase Quarto diXversoY pronounced ˈkwarto di X ˈvɛrso Y 10 11 12 one quarter from X towards Y or X al Y X to Y or X per Y X by Y There are no irregularities to trip over the closest principal wind always comes first the more distant one second for example north by east is Quarto di Tramontana verso Greco and northeast by north is Quarto di Greco verso Tramontana The table below shows how the 32 compass points are named Each point has an angular range of 11 1 4 degrees where the azimuth midpoint is the horizontal angular direction clockwise from north of the given compass bearing minimum is the lower counterclockwise angular limit of the compass point and maximum is the upper clockwise angular limit of the compass point No Compass point Abbreviation Traditional wind point AzimuthMinimum Midpoint Maximum0 North N Tramontana 354 3 8 0 0 0 5 5 8 1 North by east NbE Quarto di Tramontana verso Greco 5 5 8 11 1 4 16 7 8 2 North northeast NNE Greco Tramontana 16 7 8 22 1 2 28 1 8 3 Northeast by north NEbN Quarto di Greco verso Tramontana 28 1 8 33 3 4 39 3 8 4 Northeast NE Greco 39 3 8 45 0 0 50 5 8 5 Northeast by east NEbE Quarto di Greco verso Levante 50 5 8 56 1 4 61 7 8 6 East northeast ENE Greco Levante 61 7 8 67 1 2 73 1 8 7 East by north EbN Quarto di Levante verso Greco 73 1 8 78 3 4 84 3 8 8 East E Levante 84 3 8 90 0 0 95 5 8 9 East by south EbS Quarto di Levante verso Scirocco 95 5 8 101 1 4 106 7 8 10 East southeast ESE Levante Scirocco 106 7 8 112 1 2 118 1 8 11 Southeast by east SEbE Quarto di Scirocco verso Levante 118 1 8 123 3 4 129 3 8 12 Southeast SE Scirocco 129 3 8 135 0 0 140 5 8 13 Southeast by south SEbS Quarto di Scirocco verso Ostro 140 5 8 146 1 4 151 7 8 14 South southeast SSE Ostro Scirocco 151 7 8 157 1 2 163 1 8 15 South by east SbE Quarto di Ostro verso Scirocco 163 1 8 168 3 4 174 3 8 16 South S Ostro 174 3 8 180 0 0 185 5 8 17 South by west SbW Quarto di Ostro verso Libeccio 185 5 8 191 1 4 196 7 8 18 South southwest SSW Ostro Libeccio 196 7 8 202 1 2 208 1 8 19 Southwest by south SWbS Quarto di Libeccio verso Ostro 208 1 8 213 3 4 219 3 8 20 Southwest SW Libeccio 219 3 8 225 0 0 230 5 8 21 Southwest by west SWbW Quarto di Libeccio verso Ponente 230 5 8 236 1 4 241 7 8 22 West southwest WSW Ponente Libeccio 241 7 8 247 1 2 253 1 8 23 West by south WbS Quarto di Ponente verso Libeccio 253 1 8 258 3 4 264 3 8 24 West W Ponente 264 3 8 270 0 0 275 5 8 25 West by north WbN Quarto di Ponente verso Maestro 275 5 8 281 1 4 286 7 8 26 West northwest WNW Maestro Ponente 286 7 8 292 1 2 298 1 8 27 Northwest by west NWbW Quarto di Maestro verso Ponente 298 1 8 303 3 4 309 3 8 28 Northwest NW Maestro 309 3 8 315 0 0 320 5 8 29 Northwest by north NWbN Quarto di Maestro verso Tramontana 320 5 8 326 1 4 331 7 8 30 North northwest NNW Maestro Tramontana 331 7 8 337 1 2 343 1 8 31 North by west NbW Quarto di Tramontana verso Maestro 343 1 8 348 3 4 354 3 8 32 North N Tramontana 354 3 8 360 0 0 5 5 8 dd Chinese compass points EditNavigation texts dating from the Yuan Ming and Qing dynasties in China use a 24 pointed compass with named directions These are based on the twelve Earthly Branches which also form the basis of the Chinese zodiac When a single direction is specified it may be prefaced by the character 單 meaning single or 丹 Ming Dynasty 24 pointed compass Headings mid way in between are compounds as in English For instance 癸子 refers to the direction halfway between point 子 and point 癸 or 7 1 2 This technique is referred to as a double needle 雙針 compass Point Ordinal Name Angle子 zǐ north 0 or 360 癸 guǐ 15 丑 chǒu 30 艮 gen northeast 45 寅 yin 60 甲 jiǎ 75 卯 mǎo east 90 乙 yǐ 105 辰 chen 120 巽 xun southeast 135 巳 si 150 丙 bǐng 165 午 wǔ south 180 丁 ding 195 未 wei 210 坤 kun southwest 225 申 shen 240 庚 geng 255 酉 yǒu west 270 辛 xin 285 戌 xu 300 乾 qian northwest 315 亥 hai 330 壬 ren 345 See also EditBearing navigation Course navigation Heading navigation TVMDC Wind roseReferences Edit Evans Frederick John ed 1859 Notes on the Magnetism of Ships Pamphlets on British shipping 1785 1861 p 8 p 433 of PDF ISBN 0 217 85167 3 A deviation table having been formed by any of the processes now so generally understood either on the thirty two points of the compass the sixteen intermediate or the eight principal points Boardman David 1983 Graphicacy and Geography Teaching p 41 In particular they should learn that wind direction is always stated as the direction from which and not to which the wind is blowing Once children have grasped these eight points they can learn the full sixteen points of the compass a b See Wiktionary definitions north northeast east southeast south southwest west northwest Webb Aintablian Xanthe June 28 2018 An Overview and History of the Compass thoughtco com Dotdash Archived from the original on July 6 2018 Lee Robert E 2011 Compass Rose University of Washington Archived from the original on February 21 2015 George Payn Quackenbos A Natural Philosophy Embracing the Most Recent Discoveries 1860 Mentioning the mariner s compass the points of the compass in their order is called boxing the compass The compass box is suspended within a larger box by means of two brass hoops or gimbals as they are called supported at opposite E Chambers Cyclopaedia or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Science 5th Ed 1743 pp 206 7 Points of the Compass or Horizon amp c in Geography and Navigation are the points of division when the whole circle quite around is divided into 32 equal parts These points are therefore at the distance of the 32d part of the circuit or 11 15 from each other hence 5 37 1 2 is the distance of the half points and 2 48 3 4 is the distance of the quarter points Bowditch Nathaniel 1916 American Practical Navigator An Epitome of Navigation and Nautical Astronomy United States Hydrographic Office p 15 Kemp Peter ed 1988 Box the Compass The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea Oxford University Press p 103 ISBN 0 19 282084 2 quarto WordReference com Retrieved December 2 2018 English translation fourth quarter di WordReference com Retrieved December 2 2018 English translation of from verso WordReference com Retrieved December 2 2018 English translation towards toward close to near toExternal links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Compass rose Wind Rose archived discusses the origins of the names for compass directions Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Points of the compass amp oldid 1129219758, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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