from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Loxodromic \Lox`o*drom"ic\, a. [Gr. ? slanting, oblique + ? a
running, course; cf. F. loxodromique.]
Pertaining to sailing on rhumb lines; as, loxodromic tables.
[1913 Webster]
{Loxodromic curve} or {Loxodromic line} (Geom.), a line on
the surface of a sphere, which always makes an equal angle
with every meridian; the rhumb line. It is the line on
which a ship sails when her course is always in the
direction of one and the same point of the compass.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Rhumb \Rhumb\, n. [F. rumb, Sp. rumbo, or Pg. rumbo, rumo,
probably fr. Gr. ??? a magic wheel, a whirling motion, hence
applied to a point of the compass. See {Rhomb}.] (Navigation)
A line which crosses successive meridians at a constant
angle; -- called also {rhumb line}, and {loxodromic curve}.
See {Loxodromic}.
[1913 Webster]
{To sail on a rhumb}, to sail continuously on one course,
following a rhumb line.
[1913 Webster]