Compass (drawing tool)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Compass" drawing tool – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A compass, also commonly known as a pair of compasses, is a technical drawing instrument that can be used for inscribing circles or arcs. As dividers, it can also be used as a tool to mark out distances, in particular, on maps. Compasses can be used for mathematics, drafting, navigation and other purposes.

Prior to computerization, compasses and other tools for manual drafting were often packaged as a set^[1] with interchangeable parts. By the mid-twentieth century, circle templates supplemented the use of compasses.^{[citation needed]} Today those facilities are more often provided by computer-aided design programs, so the physical tools serve mainly a didactic purpose in teaching geometry, technical drawing, etc.