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   compass

   /ˈkʌmpəs/

   noun

   • 1. an instrument containing a magnetized pointer which shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it: "walkers should be equipped with a map and compass"
   • 2. an instrument for drawing circles and arcs and measuring distances between points, consisting of two arms linked by a movable joint, one arm ending in a point and the other usually carrying a pencil or pen: "a regular heptagon cannot be constructed accurately with only ruler and compass"
   • 3. the range or scope of something: "the event had political repercussions which are beyond the compass of this book"
   • ▪ the enclosing limits of an area: "this region had within its compass many types of agriculture"
   • ▪ the range of notes that can be produced by a voice or a musical instrument: "the cellos were playing in a rather sombre part of their compass"

   verb

   • 1. go round (something) in a circular course: "the ship wherein Magellan compassed the world"
   • ▪ surround or hem in on all sides: "we were compassed round by a thick fog"
   • 2. contrive to accomplish (something): "he compassed his end only by the exercise of violence"

   Word Origin 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.

   Scrabble Points: 13

   • C

     3

   • O

     1

   • M

     3

   • P

     3

   • A

     1

   • S

     1

   • S

     1

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