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Glite Dictionary
🧭 Between main directions 🧭 A halfway direction
intercardinal

intercardinal

8.6
A direction halfway between two main compass points, like northeast
  • noun
  • /ˌɪntərˈkɑrdɪnəl/
: intercardinal
  • The compass rose includes the four main cardinal directions, as well as the intercardinal directions like northeast and southwest.

Examples

  • Hikers often use a compass to determine intercardinal directions when exploring unfamiliar terrain.

  • To find true north, you must also understand the intercardinal directions that help in navigation.

  • A pair of diagonal lines is responsible, then, for the fundamental system of directions recognized by the people of Mismanay, and they link the seasonal limits of the Sun, seasonal signals of chosen stars, and the intercardinal (not founded on North, South, East, and West, but on points in between them) orientation of the landscape.

    Academic text (1991)

Surface Forms

intercardinal singular
intercardinals plural

Morphology

intercardinal = cardinal (transparent) = inter + cardinal

The compound denotes a direction 'between' cardinal points; the morphological logic is straightforward.

Etymology

Intercardinal comes from the parts inter- meaning 'between' and cardinal meaning 'main', as in 'cardinal directions', so as a noun it names a direction that is 'between' two main compass points, such as 'northeast' or 'southwest'.