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Glite Dictionary
NbW

NbW

1 9.9
A compass direction just west of north at 348°45′
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : Noroeste
  • The ship was sailing on a course of NbW to avoid the rocky coastline.

Examples

  • The wind shifted from north to NbW during the night.

  • He adjusted the compass to point NbW.

  • Plot your heading carefully if you want to travel exactly NbW across the bay.

  • The ship is heading NbW of the harbor.

  • To navigate accurately, set your compass to NbW before starting your journey.

  • The map indicates a route that goes NbW from this point on the trail.

  • During the sailing race, they reported their position as being NbW of the starting line.

Synonyms

north by west
vsNbW
  • Specialized
8.1

A compass direction slightly west of north used for navigation

has identical meaning but is written as a shortened abbreviation

Surface Forms

NbW singular
NbWs plural

Morphology

NbW = north + west (transparent) = by + north + west

An abbreviation of the phrase 'north by west' — knowing the component words directly indicates the compass meaning. [Postprocessing: moved 'by' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word NbW stands for north by west, from old compass language where by meant 'next to' and showed a small step toward another direction. So NbW means 'north' moved a little toward 'west' — 'one point' on the compass — which is why it marks the exact heading just west of due north.