"Compass point" redirects here. For other uses, see
Compass Point.
"ENE" redirects here. For the energy company with the NYSC ticker symbol ENE, see
Enron.
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two principal points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names, formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, are accepted internationally, even though they have their origin in the English language, and are very handy to refer to a heading (or a course) in a general or colloquial fashion, without having to resort to computing or recalling angle numbers. Despite the name of the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock movie, North by Northwest, there is no such direction. However, old-timers allow three letter directions to have a 'by' inserted beween the first and second letter. Hence, NNW becomes North by Northwest, per Hitchcock's title.
Compass points
| # |
Compass point |
Abbr. |
Traditional wind point |
True heading |
| 1 |
North |
N |
Tramontana |
0.00° |
| 2 |
North by east |
NbE |
|
11.25° |
| 3 |
North-northeast |
NNE |
|
22.50° |
| 4 |
Northeast by north |
NEbN |
|
33.75° |
| 5 |
Northeast |
NE |
Greco Bora |
45.00° |
| 6 |
Northeast by east |
NEbE |
|
56.25° |
| 7 |
East-northeast |
ENE |
|
67.50° |
| 8 |
East by north |
EbN |
|
78.75° |
| 9 |
East |
E |
Levante |
90.00° |
| 10 |
East by south |
EbS |
|
101.25° |
| 11 |
East-southeast |
ESE |
|
112.50° |
| 12 |
Southeast by east |
SEbE |
|
123.75° |
| 13 |
Southeast |
SE |
Sirocco |
135.00° |
| 14 |
Southeast by south |
SEbS |
|
146.25° |
| 15 |
South-southeast |
SSE |
|
157.50° |
| 16 |
South by east |
SbE |
|
168.75° |
| 17 |
South |
S |
Ostro |
180.00° |
| 18 |
South by west |
SbW |
|
191.25° |
| 19 |
South-southwest |
SSW |
|
202.50° |
| 20 |
Southwest by south |
SWbS |
|
213.75° |
| 21 |
Southwest |
SW |
Libeccio |
225.00° |
| 22 |
Southwest by west |
SWbW |
|
236.25° |
| 23 |
West-southwest |
WSW |
|
247.50° |
| 24 |
West by south |
WbS |
|
258.75° |
| 25 |
West |
W |
Ponente Zephyrus |
270.00° |
| 26 |
West by north |
WbN |
|
281.25° |
| 27 |
West-northwest |
WNW |
|
292.50° |
| 28 |
Northwest by west |
NWbW |
|
303.75° |
| 29 |
Northwest |
NW |
Mistral |
315.00° |
| 30 |
Northwest by north |
NWbN |
|
326.25° |
| 31 |
North-northwest |
NNW |
|
337.50° |
| 32 |
North by west |
NbW |
|
348.75° |
See also
External links
- Wind Rose – discusses the origins of the names for compass directions.