binnacle

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bin·na·cle

(bĭn′ə-kəl)

A case that supports and protects a ship's compass, located near the helm.

[Alteration of Middle English bitakille, from Old Spanish bitácula or from Old Portuguese bitácola, both from Latin habitāculum, habitation, from habitāre, to inhabit; see ghabh- in Indo-European roots.]

binnacle

(ˈbɪnəkəl)

(Nautical Terms) a housing for a ship's compass

[C17: changed from C15 bitakle, from Portuguese bitácula, from Late Latin habitāculum dwelling-place, from Latin habitāre to inhabit; spelling influenced by bin]

bin•na•cle

(ˈbɪn ə kəl)

n.

a stand or housing for a nautical compass.

[1615–25; bin + (bitt)acle < Pg bitacola < Latin habitāculum lodge]

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Noun

binnacle - a nonmagnetic housing for a ship's compass (usually in front of the helm)

housing - a protective cover designed to contain or support a mechanical component

Translations

abitacolo chiesuola

binnacle

[ˈbɪnəkl] N → bitácora f

binnacle

n → Kompasshaus nt

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References in classic literature ?

lighting the pipe at the binnacle lamp and planting the stool on the weather side of the deck, he sat and smoked.

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He darted a look into the binnacle and took a hurried compass bearing of the sounds Jerry was making.

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All the time the strangeness of him was shaping itself in my mind; and as I talked I peered at his odd, pallid face in the dim light of the binnacle lantern behind me.

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But, spite of all this, I could see no compass before me to steer by; though it seemed but a minute since I had been watching the card, by the steady binnacle lamp illuminating it.

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As soon as I had changed my clothes I went up on to the platform, and, a prey to conflicting emotions, I sat down near the binnacle.

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He was said to be paying his addresses to Lady Jane Sheepshanks, Lord Southdown's third daughter, and whose sister, Lady Emily, wrote those sweet tracts, "The Sailor's True Binnacle," and "The Applewoman of Finchley Common.

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But going forward I met Ransome bringing up the spare binnacle lamp.

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The steering-gear leaked steam, and in the confined space the glass of the binnacle made a shiny oval of light in a thin white fog.

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mcCoy ducked his head into the binnacle and watched the course set.

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The pilot was still on board, who gave him first a silent glance, and then passed an insignificant remark before resuming his lounging to and fro between the steering wheel and the binnacle.

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And yet the sick man was whole for the time being; the virile spirit was once more master of the recreant members; and it was with illogical relief that I found those I sought standing almost unconcernedly beside the binnacle.

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We ought to be moving along a line that'll cross somewhere northard of New Zealand," Daughtry guessed to himself, after a hundred stolen glances into the binnacle.