from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Compass \Com"pass\ (k[u^]m"pas), n. [F. compas, fr. LL.
compassus circle, prop., a stepping together; com- + passus
pace, step. See {Pace}, {Pass}.]
1. A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
[1913 Webster]
They fetched a compass of seven day's journey. --2
Kings iii. 9.
[1913 Webster]
This day I breathed first; time is come round,
And where I did begin, there shall I end;
My life is run his compass. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. An inclosing limit; boundary; circumference; as, within
the compass of an encircling wall.
[1913 Webster]
3. An inclosed space; an area; extent.
[1913 Webster]
Their wisdom . . . lies in a very narrow compass.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
4. Extent; reach; sweep; capacity; sphere; as, the compass of
his eye; the compass of imagination.
[1913 Webster]
The compass of his argument. --Wordsworth.
[1913 Webster]
5. Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits;
-- used with within.
[1913 Webster]
In two hundred years before (I speak within
compass), no such commission had been executed.
--Sir J.
Davies.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Mus.) The range of notes, or tones, within the capacity
of a voice or instrument.
[1913 Webster]
You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of
my compass. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
7. An instrument for determining directions upon the earth's
surface by means of a magnetized bar or needle turning
freely upon a pivot and pointing in a northerly and
southerly direction.
[1913 Webster]
He that first discovered the use of the compass did
more for the supplying and increase of useful
commodities than those who built workhouses.
--Locke.
[1913 Webster]
8. A pair of compasses. [R.] See {Compasses.}
To fix one foot of their compass wherever they
please. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
9. A circle; a continent. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The tryne compas [the threefold world containing
earth, sea, and heaven. --Skeat.] --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
{Azimuth compass}. See under {Azimuth}.
{Beam compass}. See under {Beam}.
{Compass card}, the circular card attached to the needles of
a mariner's compass, on which are marked the thirty-two
points or rhumbs.
{Compass dial}, a small pocket compass fitted with a sundial
to tell the hour of the day.
{Compass plane} (Carp.), a plane, convex in the direction of
its length on the under side, for smoothing the concave
faces of curved woodwork.
{Compass plant}, {Compass flower} (Bot.), a plant of the
American prairies ({Silphium laciniatum}), not unlike a
small sunflower; rosinweed. Its lower and root leaves are
vertical, and on the prairies are disposed to present
their edges north and south.
[1913 Webster]
Its leaves are turned to the north as true as the
magnet:
This is the compass flower. --Longefellow.
{Compass saw}, a saw with a narrow blade, which will cut in a
curve; -- called also {fret saw} and {keyhole saw}.
{Compass timber} (Shipbuilding), curved or crooked timber.
{Compass window} (Arch.), a circular bay window or oriel
window.
{Mariner's compass}, a kind of compass used in navigation. It
has two or more magnetic needles permanently attached to a
card, which moves freely upon a pivot, and is read with
reference to a mark on the box representing the ship's
head. The card is divided into thirty-two points, called
also rhumbs, and the glass-covered box or bowl containing
it is suspended in gimbals within the binnacle, in order
to preserve its horizontal position.
{Surveyor's compass}, an instrument used in surveying for
measuring horizontal angles. See {Circumferentor}.
{Variation compass}, a compass of delicate construction, used
in observations on the variations of the needle.
{To fetch a compass}, to make a circuit.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Variation \Va`ri*a"tion\, n. [OE. variatioun, F. variation, L.
variatio. See {Vary}.]
1. The act of varying; a partial change in the form,
position, state, or qualities of a thing; modification;
alteration; mutation; diversity; deviation; as, a
variation of color in different lights; a variation in
size; variation of language.
[1913 Webster]
The essences of things are conceived not capable of
any such variation. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
2. Extent to which a thing varies; amount of departure from a
position or state; amount or rate of change.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Gram.) Change of termination of words, as in declension,
conjugation, derivation, etc.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Mus.) Repetition of a theme or melody with fanciful
embellishments or modifications, in time, tune, or
harmony, or sometimes change of key; the presentation of a
musical thought in new and varied aspects, yet so that the
essential features of the original shall still preserve
their identity.
[1913 Webster]
5. (Alg.) One of the different arrangements which can be made
of any number of quantities taking a certain number of
them together.
[1913 Webster]
{Annual variation} (Astron.), the yearly change in the right
ascension or declination of a star, produced by the
combined effects of the precession of the equinoxes and
the proper motion of the star.
{Calculus of variations}. See under {Calculus}.
{Variation compass}. See under {Compass}.
{Variation of the moon} (Astron.), an inequality of the
moon's motion, depending on the angular distance of the
moon from the sun. It is greater at the octants, and zero
at the quadratures.
{Variation of the needle} (Geog. & Naut.), the angle included
between the true and magnetic meridians of a place; the
deviation of the direction of a magnetic needle from the
true north and south line; -- called also {declination of
the needle}.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Change; vicissitude; variety; deviation.
[1913 Webster]