Link Centre Dictionary

binnacle

bin·nacle

UK/ˈbɪnəkəl/ uncommon

noun

1.

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

Origin

Corruption of earlier bittacle, from French habitacle. Or from obsolete Spanish or Portuguese bitácula, both from Late Latin habitāculum (“little dwelling place”). Compare modern Spanish bitácora.

Phrases

  • binnacle list

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.