northing

Pluralnorthings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   The distance that a point lies north of a standard reference latitude.

   Like the vertical-axis reading on graph paper, telling you how far up a point sits.

   The surveyor recorded a northing of 5,400 meters for the boundary marker.

   Two points share the same easting but differ in their northings.

   Oppositesouthing

   Note

   A surveyor's coordinate, not a journey. On a projected grid it is the y-value: the distance in meters that a point lies north of the grid's origin or false origin. It works in a pair with easting, so a full grid position gives both figures. The word is simply north plus -ing. Where the sailor's northing measures ground gained, this one fixes where a point sits.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The distance covered toward the north over the course of a voyage or journey.

   Like the northward part of a trip measured on its own, ignoring any east-west wandering.

   The navigator logged the day's northing before plotting the next course.

   Contrary currents cut their northing to barely ten miles.

   Oppositesouthing

   Note

   On shipboard the word measures progress rather than position. It is the northward share of a vessel's run: the net distance gained toward the north over a leg, whatever course was actually steered. Navigators log it day by day, and contrary currents can whittle it down. Unlike the surveyor's grid coordinate, it belongs to a voyage, so it is always counted for a stretch of time or a leg of the passage.

3. 3
   verbobsolete

   Present participle and gerund of north. Obsolete.

   Note

   The verb behind this form, to north (to turn or move northward), is now obsolete, so the participle reads as old-fashioned. It is intransitive: a ship goes northing, but it never norths anything. Keep the gerund apart from the navigator's distance. "Northing along the coast" names the action of moving north, while "the day's northing" names the amount of ground gained.

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