Azimuth - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

az·i·muth

Audio Help [az-uh-muh

th] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	Astronomy, Navigation. the arc of the horizon measured clockwise from the south point, in astronomy, or from the north point, in navigation, to the point where a vertical circle through a given heavenly body intersects the horizon.

2.	Surveying, Gunnery. the angle of horizontal deviation, measured clockwise, of a bearing from a standard direction, as from north or south.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME azimut < MF ≪ Ar as sumūt the ways (i.e., directions)

]

—Related forms

az·i·muth·al

Audio Help [az-uh-muhth-uh

l] Pronunciation Key, adjective

az·i·muth·al·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Azimuth

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

az·i·muth Audio Help (āz'ə-məth) Pronunciation Key
n.

The horizontal angular distance from a reference direction, usually the northern point of the horizon, to the point where a vertical circle through a celestial body intersects the horizon, usually measured clockwise. Sometimes the southern point is used as the reference direction, and the measurement is made clockwise through 360°.
The horizontal angle of the observer's bearing in surveying, measured clockwise from a referent direction, as from the north, or from a referent celestial body, usually Polaris.
The lateral deviation of a projectile or bomb.

[Middle English azimut, from Old French, from Arabic as-sumūt, pl. of as-samt, the way, compass bearing : al-, the + samt, way (from Latin sēmita, path; see mei-¹ in Indo-European roots).]

az'i·muth'al (-mŭth'əl) adj., az'i·muth'al·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
azimuth

"distance of a star from the north or south point of the meridian," c.1391, from O.Fr. azimut, from Arabic as-sumut "the ways," pl. of as-samt "the way, direction" (see zenith).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

azimuth
noun
the azimuth of a celestial body is the angle between the vertical plane containing it and the plane of the meridian

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

azimuth Audio Help (āz'ə-məth) Pronunciation Key
The position of a celestial object along an observer's horizon. Azimuth is a horizontal angle measured clockwise in degrees from a reference direction, usually the north or south point of the horizon, to the point on the horizon intersected by the object's line of altitude (a line from the observer's zenith through the object to the horizon). If north is the reference point (0°), then east has an azimuth of 90°, south is 180°, and so forth through 360°. See more at altazimuth coordinate system.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Azimuth

Az"i*muth\, n. [OE. azimut, F. azimut, fr. Ar. as-sum?t, pl. of as-samt a way, or perh., a point of the horizon and a circle extending to it from the zenith, as being the Arabic article: cf. It. azzimutto, Pg. azimuth, and Ar. samt-al-r[=a]'s the vertex of the heaven. Cf. Zenith.] (Astron. & Geodesy) (a) The quadrant of an azimuth circle. (b) An arc of the horizon intercepted between the meridian of the place and a vertical circle passing through the center of any object; as, the azimuth of a star; the azimuth or bearing of a line surveying.

Note: In trigonometrical surveying, it is customary to reckon the azimuth of a line from the south point of the horizon around by the west from 0[deg] to 360[deg].

Azimuth circle, or Vertical circle, one of the great circles of the sphere intersecting each other in the zenith and nadir, and cutting the horizon at right angles. --Hutton.

Azimuth compass, a compass resembling the mariner's compass, but having the card divided into degrees instead of rhumbs, and having vertical sights; used for taking the magnetic azimuth of a heavenly body, in order to find, by comparison with the true azimuth, the variation of the needle.

Azimuth dial, a dial whose stile or gnomon is at right angles to the plane of the horizon. --Hutton.

Magnetic azimuth, an arc of the horizon, intercepted between the vertical circle passing through any object and the magnetic meridian. This is found by observing the object with an azimuth compass.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

azimuth

azimuth: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

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