noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A line on a surface (such as the Earth) that cuts all meridians at a constant angle (but not a right angle) – on Earth, the path followed by a ship or aircraft that maintains a constant course by the compass.
2. 2
   a line on a sphere that cuts all meridians at the same angle; the path taken by a ship or plane that maintains a constant compass direction wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

rhumbrhumb linerhumbrhumb line

Etymology

Back-formation from loxodromic, from Ancient Greek λοξός (loxós, “oblique”) + δρόμος (drómos, “course”) via French.

Related phrases

great circleloxodromic transformationright angle

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.