Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AZ'I-MUTH, n. [Ar. سَمَتَ samatha, to move or go toward; سَمْتٌ, (L. semita,) a way or path; with a prefix.]

1. In astronomy, an arch of the horizon intercepted between the meridian of the place, and the azimuth or vertical circle, passing through the center of the object.
2. Magnetical azimuth, an arch of the horizon, intercepted between the azimuth or vertical circle, passing through the center of any heavenly body, and the magnetic meridian. This is found by observing the object with an azimuth compass.
3. Azimuth compass, an instrument for finding either the magnetic azimuth or amplitude of a heavenly object.
4. Azimuth dial, a dial whose stile or gnomon is at right angles to the plane of the horizon.
5. Azimuths or vertical circles, are great circles intersecting each other in the zenith and nadir, and cutting the horizon at right angles. – Encyc. Chambers. Bailey. Johnson. On charts, these azimuths are represented by rhumbs, and on the globe, by the quadrant of altitude, when screwed in the zenith.