azimuth

From Old French *azimut, from Arabic اَلسُّمُوت‎ pl (as-sumūt, “the directions”). Cognate to modern French azimut.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæzɪməθ/

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azimuth (plural azimuths)

1. An arc of the horizon intercepted between the meridian of the place and a vertical circle passing through the center of any object

   the azimuth of a star

   the azimuth or bearing of a line surveying

2. The quadrant of an azimuth circle.

• 1882, Thomas Hardy, Two on a Tower, Chapter 16

  The dome, being constructed of wood, was light by comparison with the rest of the structure, and the wheels which allowed it horizontal, or, as Swithin expressed it, azimuth motion, denied it a firm hold upon the walls; so that it had been lifted off them like a cover from a pot.

• azimuthal
• azimuthally

• nadir, zenith