compartimento 
COmpartimento (kom-par-ti-men'to), n.; pi. 
compartiiiifiiti (-ti). [It. : see compartment.] 
One of the sixteen conventional territorial di- 
visions into which the provinces of modern 
Italy are grouped. 
compartitiont (kom-piir-tish'on), re. [< ML. 
compartitio(n-), < compartire, pp. eompnrtittts, 
divide: see compart 1 ."] 1. The act of dividing 
into parts; specifically, inarch., the division or 
disposition of the whole ground-plan of an edi- 
fice into its various apartments. 
Their temples and amphitheaters needed no cmnparti- 
tion. Sir H. Wotton, Elem. of Architect. 
2. A division ; the part divided ; a separate 
part. Sir H. Wotton; Sir T. Browne. 
compartment (kom-part'ment), re. [Formerly 
cotnpartement, comparliment, < F. eompartimeiit 
= Sp. compartimento, compartimiento = Pg. It. 
compartimento, < ML. * compartimentum, < com- 
partire, divide, partition: see compart 1 .'] 1. A 
part separated from the adjoining parts by a 
partition or other mechanical means: as, the 
compartments of a steamship or of a European 
railway-carriage. 
There was a train just stopping, and she opened the door 
of one of the compartments and entered it. Mrs. Riddell. 
2. In art, a panel ; a cartouche; a coffer; any 
portion of a work or design separated from the 
rest by a frame or molding, by being raised or 
sunk, or in any other way, especially to receive 
an inscription or a decoration of any kind : as, 
the compartments of a coffered ceiling ; the small 
sculptured compartments of the portals of the 
cathedral of Amiens. See cut under calendar. 
The square will make you ready for all manner of com- 
partments, bases, pedestals, and buildings. 
Peacham, Compleat Gentleman. 
There are some mezzo-relievos as big as the life, the 
storie is of ye Heathen Gods, emblems, compartments, &c. 
Evelyn, Diary, Jan. 3, 1668. 
About twenty feet from the ground, there is a compart- 
me,nt cut on the pillar which seems to have been intended 
for an inscription, but there is no sign of any letters. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. 107. 
3. Specifically, in her., any partition or division 
of the field Compartment celling. See ceilini). 
Compartment tiles, in arch., tiles of different colors so 
arranged as to form compartments. Water-tight com- 
partment, a division of a ship's hull, or other subaqueous 
structure, so shut off from other parts that water admit- 
ted to these parts cannot enter it from them. See bulk- 
head. 
COmpartnert (kom-piirt'ner), re. [< com- + part- 
ner. Cf. copartner and compart 2 .] A sharer; 
a copartner. Bp. Pearson. 
Neither could he beleeue that the French King, being 
his . . . sworne Compartner in that voyage, would vtter 
any such wordes. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 23. 
compartnershipt (kom-part'ner-ship), n. [< 
compartner + -ship.] " Copartnership. 
My wite'acompartnership. Ford, Perkin Warbeck, iv. 3. 
COmpasant (kom'pa-zant), n. A corruption of 
corposant. 
compass (kum'pas), . [Early mod. E. also 
cwmpasse ; < ME. compos, citmpas, a circle, cir- 
cuit, limit, form, a mathematical instrument 
(also contrivance, cunning: see compass, v., 4), 
= D. Dan. kompas = G. compass = Sw. kom- 
pass, a mariners' compass, C OF. compas, F. 
compos = Pr. Sp. compas = Pg. compasso, com- 
pago = It. compasso, < ML. compassus, a circle, 
a circuit, < L. com-, together, + passus, a pace, 
step, later a pass, way, route : see pass, pace.] 
If. A circle. Chaucer. 
In myddes of that Chirche is a Compas, in the whiche 
Joseph of Aramathie leyde the Body of oure Lord, whan he 
had taken him down of the Croys : and there he wassched 
the Wouudes of oure Lord : and that Compas, seye men, 
is the myddes of the World. Mandemlle, Travels, p. 79. 
Specifically 2f. The circle of the earth. 
All rounde the compas though man be sekyng, 
In all the worlde so noble king is noght 
As the kyng of Frounce, certes, to be thought. 
Rom. ofPartenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6270. 
3. A passing round or in a circle ; a circular 
course ; a circuit ; round ; circumference. 
Hen gon be the See Occean, be many Yles, unto an Yle 
that is clept Nacumera ; that is a gret Yle and good and 
fayr : and it is in kompas aboute more than a 1000 Myle. 
Mandemlle, Travels, p. 196. 
Time is come round. 
And where I did begin, there shall I end ; 
My life is run his compass. Shak., J. C., v. 3. 
Taking leave of Cadenham, where we had ben long and 
nobly entertain'd, we went a compass into Leicestershire. 
Evelyn, Diary, July 31, 1654. 
4. Eange or extent within limits ; hence, limit 
or boundary ; limits. 
O Juliet, I already know thy grief ; 
It strains me past the compass of my wits. 
Shale., R. and J., iv. 1. 
1142 
And in that compass all the world contains. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Georgics, ii. 
In the compass of three little words. 
Temiyson, Gardener's Daughter. 
5. In music, the total range or number of tones 
which a given voice or instrument is capable 
of producing. The compass of a single voice is usually 
from two to three octaves. The effective compass of a 
8M.JL 
-^ 
8va. 
mixed chorus is about three octaves and two tones (1) ; but 
exceptional singers extend this about an octave up and 
down. The compass of the modern pianoforte is usually 
seven octaves and three tones (2). The compass of the 
modern orchestra is about six octaves (3). 
6f. Contrivance; scheme ; plotting ; plan. 
Maugre Juno, Eneas, 
For al hir sleight and hir compos, 
Acheved al his aventure. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 462. 
7. An instrument used to indicate the magnetic 
meridian, or the direction of objects with ref- 
erence to that meridian. The mariners' or ship's 
compass consists of three parts, viz., the bowl, the card, 
and the needle. The bowl, which contains the card and 
needle, is usually a hemispherical brass receptacle, sus- 
pended by two concentric brass rings (called gimbals) in 
such a manner that the bowl is kept in a horizontal posi- 
tion, notwithstanding the motion of the ship. The circu- 
lar card is divided into 82 equal parts by lines drawn from 
the center to the circumference, the points of intersection 
with the circumference (or the radial lines, or rhumbs, 
themselves) being called the points of the compass. The 
intervals between the points are also divided into halves 
and quarters. The whole circumference is divided into 
300 degrees ; consequently, the angle between any two ad- 
joining points is 11" 15'. The four principal divisions (di- 
viding the circumference into four equal parts) are called 
the cardinal points, viz., north, east, south, and west. The 
names of the others are compounded of these ; and if the di- 
rection or bearing referred to lies between any two points, 
quarter or half points are added, as N. E. by E. $ E. ; or it 
is expressed in degrees, as south 42 west. The needles, 
of which there are generally from two to four, fastened 
to the bottom of 
the card, consist ^. * ?t 
either of lam in re 
or layers of hard- 
ened steel or of 
bundles of steel 
wire. In the cen- 
ter of the card is 
a conical socket 
poised on an up- 
right pin fixed in 
the bottom of the 
bowl, so that the 
card hanging on 
the pin turns 
freely round its 
center. On ship- 
board the com- 
pass is so fixed 
thata black mark, 
called the lub- 
ber's line, coin- 
cides with an imaginary line parallel to the keel of the 
ship, and the point of the compass-card which is directly 
against this line indicates the direction of the ship's head. 
The indication is, however, subject to a certain modifica- 
tion, owing to the variation of the magnetic meridian (see 
variation) and the deviation of the needle caused by the 
iron in the ship (see deviation of the compass, under de- 
viation). The regulation compass in the United States 
navy, and the one also used on many mail -steamers, is 
known as Ritchie's liquid compass, in which the card is a 
skeleton, and the bowl, having a glass top, after being 
filled with a fluid composed of about one third alcohol 
and two thirds water, is hermetically sealed. 
Our Course by Stars above we cannot know, 
Without the Compass too below. 
Cowley, Reason, st. 5. 
8. A mathematical instrument for describing 
circles, or for measuring figures, distances be- 
tween two points, etc.: commonly in the plural. 
Compasses consist of two pointed legs, movable on a joint 
or pivot, and are usually so made that the points can be 
detached for the insertion of a pen- or pencil- holder, an 
extension of the leg, etc. Also called dividers. (See bow- 
compasses, below.) 
In his hand 
He took the golden compasses, prepared 
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe 
This universe, and all created things. 
Milton, P. L., vii. 225. 
9. In zoo!., the radius of the dentary apparatus 
of a sea-urchin. See radius, and cut under lan- 
Com pass-face, or Compass-card. 
compass 
tern. 10. In archery, elevation of the arrow 
in shooting. 
Well acquainted with what compass his arrows would 
require in their flight. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 124. 
Amplitude cqmpass. See amplitude. Azimuth com- 
pass. See azimuth. Boat-compass, a small compass 
for use in boats. Bow-compasses, the name given to 
several instruments for measuring distances, describing 
arcs, etc., having the two legs united at the top by a bow 
or spring so as to tend to move apart, the distance be- 
tween the le^s being adjusted by means of a screw and 
nut. Bullet-compasses, compasses having a sphere at 
the end of one leg, which can be set in a hole ; club-com- 
passes. Dumb compass (naut.), an apparatus for tak- 
ing bearings, consisting of a compass-card painted on 
wood or canvas or engraved on metal, and sometimes 
furnished with an alidade or sight-vanes. The point of 
the compass toward which the ship heads being adjusted 
on a line parallel with the ship's keel, the bearings of 
surrounding objects are easily determined. Extended 
compass, in mime, the range of a voice or of an instru- 
ment which pies beyond the ordinary limit.- Fly Of the 
mariners' compass. See ////. Hair-compasses, com- 
passes having a spring attached to the upper part of the 
inside of one of the legs, and pressing outward against 
the lower part of the other, thus constantly tending to 
keep the legs apart. By means of a finely threaded screw 
the spring can be compressed or relaxed with the utmost 
nicety, and the distance of the legs regulated to a hair's- 
breadth. Millwrights' COmp ass, a t< n >1 f i >r laying off the 
dress on the face of a millstone. Napier's compasses, 
a draftsman's pocket-compasses, having a point and pencil 
pivoted to one leg, and a point and drawing-pen to the 
other. The legs are jointed so that the working ends 
can be folded inward when not in use. Oval compass, 
a compass for describing ovals; an ellipsograph. Pair 
of compasses. Same as compass, 8. Proportional 
compasses, see proportional. Standard compass, 
in a ship, a compass, generally the one used as the azi- 
muth compass, to which others are referred to ascertain 
their errors, and by which the ship is navigated. Steer- 
ing-compass, a compass situated in front of the steer- 
ing-wheel, by which the helmsman is guided. The trine 
compass*, probably, the equinoctial circle and two co- 
lures, or by synecdoche the universe: but the Trinity, 
according to Tyrwhitt ; the threefold world, containing 
earth, sea, and heaven, according to Skeat. 
The Eternal Love and Pees, 
That of the tryne compas lord and gyde is, 
Whom erthe and see and heven, out of relees, 
Ay herien. Chaucer, Second Nun's Tale, 1. 45. 
To box the compass. See box'*, v.To fetch a com- 
pass, to make a circuit or detour. 
Landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. And 
from thence we fetched a compos*, and came to Rhegium. 
Acts xxviii. 12, 13. 
To keep compass, (a) In archery, to observe a due ele- 
vation of the arrow in shooting. 
She'll keep a surer compass ; I have too strong a confi- 
dence to mistrust her. 
Ford and Dekker, Witch of Edmonton, ii. 2. 
(b) To keep within bounds. Nares. 
Some pressed the queen, that he [the fool] should come 
to her, undertaking for him that he should keep compass. 
King James, Apothegms, 1669. 
Triangular compasses. See triangular. Within com- 
passt, within bounds. 
I speak much within compaw; forthe Savannahs would 
at present feed 1000 Head of Cattle besides Goats. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 88. 
compass (kum'pas), v. t. [Early mod. E. also 
cumpasse; < ME. compassen, cumpassen, go 
around, make a circuit, draw a circle, contrive, 
intend, < OF. compasser, F. compasser = Pr. 
Pg. compassar = Sp. compasar = It. compas- 
sare; from the noun: see compass, .] 1. To 
stretch round ; extend about so as to embrace ; 
inclose ; encircle ; environ ; surround. 
With favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. 
Ps. v. 12. 
Now, all the blessings 
Of a glad father compass thee about ! 
Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 
This parlor was lined with oak ; fine, dark, glossy panels 
compassed the walls gloomily and grandly. 
Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, xi. 
Compass'd by the inviolate sea. 
Tennyson, To the Queen. 
2. To go about or round ; make the circuit of. 
The seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times. 
Josh. vi. 4. 
3. To obtain ; attain to ; procure ; gain ; bring 
within one's power ; accomplish. 
Tre but her picture I have yet beheld, 
And that hath dazzled my reason's light : . . . 
If I can check my erring love, I will ; 
If not, to compass her I'll use my skill. 
Shak.,T. G. of V., ii. 4. 
Earl Richard having given infinitely to compass his Ad- 
vancement, looked to help himself again by the Place. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 85. 
The man who strives to bring in a future state of things 
which is still so distant that none but himself sees it to be 
future, will certainly not compass his object. 
E. A. Freeman, Amer, Lects., p. 221. 
4. To purpose ; intend; imagine; plot; con- 
trive. [Obsolete except as a legal term.] 
And somme to dyuyne and dyuyde, numbres to keiine, 
And craftely [skilfully] to ctnnpawen, and colours to make. 
Piers Plowman (C), xxii. 241. 
