Azimuth
Azimuth ({not transcribed}) , noun
[Old English azimut, French azimut, from Arabic as-sumūt, plural 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: compare Italian azzimutto, Portuguese azimuth, and Arabic samt-al-rā's the vertex of the heaven. Compare Zenith.]
(a)
(Astronomy & Geodesy) The quadrant of an azimuth circle.
(b)
(Astronomy & Geodesy) 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.
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° to 360°.
Collocations (4)
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.