Binʹnacle.
The case of the mariner’s compass, which used to be written bittacle, a corruption of the Portuguese bitacola, French, habitacle, properly an abode.
The case of the mariner’s compass, which used to be written bittacle, a corruption of the Portuguese bitacola, French, habitacle, properly an abode.
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.