Compass

[Fr. compas - com for con, and pas, a pace, a step; Lat. pa us.] A moving or pa ing round; a circle; a circuit or circular course. "My life has run its compa ." - Shaks. -Limit or boundary of time or space, and the space included; space; inclosure; circumference; as, within the compa of a year. "And in that compa all the world contains." - Dryden. -Moderate bounds; due limits; as, "I speak within com pa ." - Davies. ( Mus .) Extent or limit of the voice, or of sound; range of notes in a musical instrument. "Through all the compa of the notes it ran." - Dryden. (Naut.) A name given to instruments contrived to indicate the magnetic meridian, or the position of objects with regard to that meridian. According to the purposes to which the instrument is chiefly applied, it becomes the mariner's compa , the azimuth compa , and the variation compa , each particular application requiring some peculiarity of construction; but whatever modifications it may receive, the e ential parts are the same in all cases. These are a magnetized bar of steel, called the needle, having (fitted to it at its centre) a cap, which is supported on an upright pivot, made sharp at the point in order to diminish the friction as much as poвsible, and allow the needle to turn with the slightest force. The mariner's compa has a circular card attached to its needle, which turns with it, and on the N