Points of the compass Points of the compass The points of the compass mark the divisions on a compass, which is primarily divided into the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. These points are further subdivided by the addition of the four intercardinal (or ordinal) directions—northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), and northwest (NW)—to indicate the eight principal winds. In meteorological usage, further intermediate points between the cardinal and intercardinal directions, such as north-northeast (NNE) are added to give the sixteen points of a compass rose. At the most complete division are the full thirty-two points of the mariner's compass, which adds
Compass rose of the principal winds to come up with intermediate compass points, known as half-winds, at angles of difference of 22°. The names of the half-winds are simply combinations of the principal winds to either side, principal then ordinal. E.g. North-northeast (NNE), East-northeast (ENE), etc. 32-point compass roses are constructed by bisecting these angles, and coming up with quarter-winds at 11° angles of difference. Quarter-wind names are constructed with the names "X by Y", which can be read as "one quarter wind from X toward Y", where X is one of the eight principal winds and Y is one of the