different between compass vs measure
compass
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: k?m?p?s, IPA(key): /?k?m.p?s/
- Rhymes: -?mp?s
Etymology 1
From Middle English compas (“a circle, circuit, limit, form, a mathematical instrument”), from Old French compas, from Medieval Latin compassus (“a circle, a circuit”), from Latin com- (“together”) + passus (“a pace, step, later a pass, way, route”); see pass, pace.
Noun
compass (plural compasses)
- A magnetic or electronic device used to determine the cardinal directions (usually magnetic or true north).
- 1689/1690, John Locke, On improvement of understanding
- He that [...] first discovered the use of the compass [...] did more for the propagation of knowledge [...] than those who built workhouses.
- 1890, Wilhelm Westhofen, The Forth Bridge
- a glance at his compass would have shown him that a northerly course instead of an easterly could not be right
- 1689/1690, John Locke, On improvement of understanding
- A pair of compasses (a device used to draw an arc or circle).
- 1701, Jonathan Swift, A Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome, Chapter 5
- to fix one foot of their compass wherever they please
- 1701, Jonathan Swift, A Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome, Chapter 5
- (music) The range of notes of a musical instrument or voice.
- (obsolete) A space within limits; an area.
- 1763, M. Le Page Du Pratz, History of Louisiana (PG), page 47:
- In going up the Missisippi [sic], we meet with nothing remarkable before we come to the Detour aux Anglois, the English Reach: in that part the river takes a large compass.
- 1711, Joseph Addison, The Spectator
- Animals, in their generation, are wiser than the sons of men but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass.
- 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 14
- Clara thought she had never seen him look so small and mean. He was as if trying to get himself into the smallest possible compass.
- 1763, M. Le Page Du Pratz, History of Louisiana (PG), page 47:
- (obsolete) An enclosing limit; a boundary, a circumference.
- Moderate bounds, limits of truth; moderation; due limits; used with within.
- c. 1610, John Davies, Historical Tracts
- In two hundred years before (I speak within compass), no such commission had been executed.
- c. 1610, John Davies, Historical Tracts
- (archaic) scope.
- 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion Book 8
- the compass of his argument
- 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, Oxford University Press (1973), section 8:
- There is a truth and falsehood in all propositions on this subject, and a truth and falsehood, which lie not beyond the compass of human understanding.
- 1844, Edgar Allan Poe, Marginalia
- How very commonly we hear it remarked that such and such thoughts are beyond the compass of words! I do not believe that any thought, properly so called, is out of the reach of language.
- 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion Book 8
- (obsolete) A passing round; circuit; circuitous course.
- 1611, King James Version, 2 Kings iii. 9
- They fetched a compass of seven days' journey.
- 1611, King James Version, 2 Kings iii. 9
Synonyms
- (magnetic direction finder): magnetic compass
- (device used to draw circular curves): pair of compasses
Hyponyms
- (pair of compasses): beam compass
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English compassen (“to go around, make a circuit, draw a circle, contrive, intend”), from Old French compasser; from the noun; see compass as a noun.
Verb
compass (third-person singular simple present compasses, present participle compassing, simple past and past participle compassed)
- To surround; to encircle; to environ; to stretch round.
- 1610, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, act 5 scene 1
- Now all the blessings
- Of a glad father compass thee about!
- And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
- 1610, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, act 5 scene 1
- To go about or round entirely; to traverse.
- (dated) To accomplish; to reach; to achieve; to obtain.
- 1763, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emilius; or, an essay on education, translated by M. Nugent, page 117:
- [...] they never find ways sufficient to compass that end.
- 1816, Catholicon: or, the Christian Philosopher, volume 3, from July to December 1816, page 56:
- [...] to settle the end of our action or disputation; and then to take fit and effectual means to compass that end.
- 1921 November 23, The New Republic, volume 28, number 364, page 2:
- The immediate problem is how to compass that end: by the seizure of territory or by the cultivation of the goodwill of the people whose business she seeks.
- 1763, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emilius; or, an essay on education, translated by M. Nugent, page 117:
- (dated) To plot; to scheme (against someone).
- 1600, The Arraignment and Judgement of Captain Thomas Lee, published in 1809, by R. Bagshaw, in Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials, volume 1, page 1403–04:
- That he plotted and compassed to raise Sedition and Rebellion [...]
- 1794 November 1, Speech of Mr. Erskine in Behalf of Hardy, published in 1884, by Chauncey Allen Goodrich, in Select British Eloquence, page 719:
- But it went beyond it by the loose construction of compassing to depose the King, [...]
- 1915, The Wireless Age, volume 2, page 580:
- The Bavarian felt a mad wave of desire for her sweep over him. What scheme wouldn't he compass to mould that girl to his wishes.
- 1600, The Arraignment and Judgement of Captain Thomas Lee, published in 1809, by R. Bagshaw, in Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials, volume 1, page 1403–04:
Synonyms
- (surround): encircle, environ, surround
- (go about or around entirely): cover, traverse
- (accomplish): accomplish, achieve, attain, gain, get to, reach
- (plot (against someone)): conspire, plot, scheme
Translations
Adverb
compass (comparative more compass, superlative most compass)
- (obsolete) In a circuit; round about.
- 1658, Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial,[1] Penguin (2005), ?ISBN, page 9:
- Near the same plot of ground, for about six yards compasse were digged up coals and incinerated substances, […]
- 1658, Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial,[1] Penguin (2005), ?ISBN, page 9:
References
- compass in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- compass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Middle English
Noun
compass
- Alternative form of compas
compass From the web:
- what compass zone am i in
- what compassion means
- what compassionate mean
- what compass zone am i in chevy
- what compass does the military use
- what compassion means to me
- what compass zone is michigan in
- what compassion is not
measure
English
Etymology
From Middle English mesure, from Old French mesure, from Latin m?ns?ra (“a measuring, rule, something to measure by”), from m?nsus, past participle of m?t?r? (“to measure, mete”). Displaced native Middle English m?te, mete (“measure”) (from Old English met (“measure”), compare Old English mitta (“a measure”)), Middle English ameten, imeten (“to measure”) (from Old English ?metan, ?emetan (“to mete, measure”)), Middle English hof, hoof (“measure, reason”) (from Old Norse h?f (“measure, reason”)), Old English m?þ (“measure, degree”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?m???/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?m???/
- (regional US) IPA(key): /?me???/
- Rhymes: -???(?)
- Hyphenation: meas?ure; mea?sure
Noun
measure (plural measures)
- A prescribed quantity or extent.
- (obsolete) Moderation, temperance. [13th-19th c.]
- c. 1390, William Langland, Piers Plowman, I:
- Mesure is medcynee · þou? þow moche ?erne.
- 1611, Bible, Authorized Version, Jer. XXX:
- I will correct thee in measure, and will not leaue thee altogether vnpunished.
- c. 1390, William Langland, Piers Plowman, I:
- A limit that cannot be exceeded; a bound. (Now chiefly in set phrases.) [from 14th c.]
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, V:
- Full to the utmost measure of what bliss Human desires can seek or apprehend.
- 2009, Mike Selvey, The Guardian, 25 Aug 2009:
- They have gloried to this day, the tedious interminable big-screen replays of that golden summer irritating beyond measure.
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, V:
- An (unspecified) portion or quantity. [from 16th c.]
- 2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban (in The Guardian, 6 September 2013)[1]:
- It ended up being a bittersweet night for England, full of goals to send the crowd home happy, buoyed by the news that Montenegro and Poland had drawn elsewhere in Group H but also with a measure of regret about what happened to Danny Welbeck and what it means for Roy Hodgson's team going into a much more difficult assignment against Ukraine.
- 2013, Daniel Taylor, Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban (in The Guardian, 6 September 2013)[1]:
- (obsolete) Moderation, temperance. [13th-19th c.]
- The act or result of measuring.
- (now chiefly cooking) A receptacle or vessel of a standard size, capacity etc. as used to deal out specific quantities of some substance. [from 14th c.]
- A standard against which something can be judged; a criterion. [from 14th c.]
- Any of various standard units of capacity. [from 14th c.]
- A unit of measurement. [from 14th c.]
- 1993, Scientific American February 33.3:
- The fragments shrank by increments of about three kilodaltons (a measure of molecular weight).
- 1993, Scientific American February 33.3:
- The size of someone or something, as ascertained by measuring. (Now chiefly in make to measure.) [from 14th c.]
- The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
- (now rare) The act or process of measuring. [from 14th c.]
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
- A ruler, measuring stick, or graduated tape used to take measurements. [from 16th c.]
- (mathematics, now rare) A number which is contained in a given number a number of times without a remainder; a divisor or factor. [from 16th c.]
- the greatest common measure of two or more numbers
- (geology) A bed or stratum. [from 17th c.]
- coal measures; lead measures
- (mathematics) A function that assigns a non-negative number to a given set following the mathematical nature that is common among length, volume, probability and the like. [from 20th c.]
- (now chiefly cooking) A receptacle or vessel of a standard size, capacity etc. as used to deal out specific quantities of some substance. [from 14th c.]
- Metrical rhythm.
- (now archaic) A melody. [from 14th c.]
- (now archaic) A dance. [from 15th c.]
- (poetry) The manner of ordering and combining the quantities, or long and short syllables; meter; rhythm; hence, a metrical foot. [from 15th c.]
- a poem in iambic measure
- (music) A musical designation consisting of all notes and or rests delineated by two vertical bars; an equal and regular division of the whole of a composition; a bar. [from 17th c.]
- A course of action.
- (in the plural) Actions designed to achieve some purpose; plans. [from 17th c.]
- A piece of legislation. [from 18th c.]
- (in the plural) Actions designed to achieve some purpose; plans. [from 17th c.]
Synonyms
- (musical designation): bar
- (unit of measurement): metric
Hyponyms
- (mathematics): positive measure, signed measure, complex measure, Borel measure, ?-finite measure, complete measure, Lebesgue measure
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
measure (third-person singular simple present measures, present participle measuring, simple past and past participle measured)
- To ascertain the quantity of a unit of material via calculated comparison with respect to a standard.
- To be of (a certain size), to have (a certain measurement)
- To estimate the unit size of something.
- To judge, value, or appraise.
- To obtain or set apart; to mark in even increments.
- (rare) To traverse, cross, pass along; to travel over.
- 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds
- "And for a very sensible reason; there never was but one like her; or, that is, I have always thought so until to-day," replied the tar, glancing toward Natalie; "for my old eyes have seen pretty much everything they have got in this little world. Ha! I should like to see the inch of land or water that my foot hasn't measured."
- 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds
- To adjust by a rule or standard.
- 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living
- To secure a contented spirit, you must measure your desires by your fortune and condition, not your fortunes by your desires
- 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living
- To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; often with out or off.
- With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
- That portion of eternity which is called time, measured out by the sun.
Derived terms
Translations
Further reading
- “measure”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
- measure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- measure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- measure at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Reaumes
measure From the web:
- what measures wind speed
- what measures air pressure
- what measures humidity
- what measures wind direction
- what measurement is equal to 6 kilograms
- what measures relative humidity
- what measures mass
- what measures earthquakes
you may also like
- compass vs measure
- almsman vs mendicant
- confusion vs ripple
- proscription vs banishment
- imaginative vs smart
- winsome vs genial
- cloudy vs dim
- feeling vs drift
- chicks vs litter
- cumbrous vs bulky
- pep vs dynamism
- smartness vs resourcefulness
- repetitious vs flat
- hullabaloo vs din
- niggardly vs puny
- command vs ukase
- tag vs docket
- despicable vs dastardly
- piercing vs pervasive
- myriad vs several