Kompass

See also: kompass

German

Alternative forms

• Kompaß (pre-1996)

Etymology

15th century, from Italian compasso (in which the sense “compass” is now rare and considered an anglicism, though it was usual in older Italian).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔmpas/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Kompass m (strong, genitive Kompasses or Kompass, plural Kompasse or (less common) Kompässe)

1. compass (navigational instrument)

Usage notes

• The spelling Kompass has been the prescribed spelling since the German spelling reform of 1996 (the Rechtschreibreform). In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it had already been standard since ⟨ß⟩ was deprecated in the 1930s. In the affected areas, the previous spelling (Kompaß) is now less common, and may be regarded as a misspelling.

Declension

Declension of Kompass [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Kompass	die	Kompasse, Kompässe1
genitive	eines	des	Kompasses, Kompass	der	Kompasse, Kompässe1
dative	einem	dem	Kompass	den	Kompassen, Kompässen1
accusative	einen	den	Kompass	die	Kompasse, Kompässe1

¹Less common.

Derived terms

• Schiffskompass
• Taschenkompass
• Wertekompass

See also

• Zirkel

Further reading

• “Kompass” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Kompass” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Kompass” in Duden online
• Kompass on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de