nautical mile

noun

1. a unit of distance used chiefly in navigation, equal to 6080.20 feet (1853.25 meters) in the United States, now replaced by the international nautical mile.

nautical mile

noun

1. Also called: international nautical mile.  air mile. a unit of length, used esp in navigation, equivalent to the average length of a minute of latitude, and corresponding to a latitude of 45°, i.e. 1852 m (6076.12 ft)

2. Former name: geographical mile. a former British unit of length equal to 1853.18 m (6080 ft), which was replaced by the international nautical mile in 1970 Compare sea mile

nautical mile

1. A unit of length in the US Customary System, used in air and sea navigation and equal to 6,076 feet or 2,025 yards (1,852 meters).

2. Also called geographic mile

3. See Table at measurement

Word History and Origins

Origin of nautical mile¹

First recorded in 1625–35

Example Sentences

At least 19 vessels and more than 300 personnel searched an area of around 1,750 square nautical miles, roughly eight times the size of Singapore.

Read more on Barron's

The company that manages the ship announced it had lost contact with the crew on Friday morning, while the tanker was 20 nautical miles off the coast of Sharjah's Khorfakkan port.

Read more on BBC

At least 12 vessels were searching an area of around 250 square nautical miles, roughly the same size as the city-state of Singapore.

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Romlis said at least 12 vessels were searching for survivors in an area of around 250 square nautical miles, roughly the same size as the city-state of Singapore.

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The port also faces challenges because of its position on the St. Lawrence River, about 1,000 nautical miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal