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Meaning of compass in English
Pronunciation
/ˈkəmpəs/
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Verb
compass
Definitions
1.
bring about
Examples
« accomplish »
« This writer attempts more than his talents can compass »
2.
travel around, either by plane or ship
Examples
« We compassed the earth »
3.
get the meaning of something
Examples
« Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter? »
Noun
compass
Etymology
Middle English: from Old French compas (noun), compasser (verb), based on Latin com-‘together’ + passus‘a step or pace’. Several senses (‘measure’, ‘artifice’, ‘circumscribed area’, and ‘pair of compasses’) which appeared in Middle English are also found in Old French, but their development and origin are uncertain. The transference of sense to the magnetic compass is held to have occurred in the related Italian word compasso, from the circular shape of the compass box
Definitions
1.
navigational instrument for finding directions
2.
an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"
Examples
« the ambit of municipal legislation »
« within the compass of this article »
« within the scope of an investigation »
« outside the reach of the law »
« in t »
3.
the limit of capability
Examples
« within the compass of education »
4.
drafting instrument used for drawing circles