Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Deviation?

\De`vi*a"tion\, n. [LL. deviatio: cf. F. d['e]viation.] 1. The act of deviating; a wandering from the way; variation from the common way, from an established rule, etc.; departure, as from the right course or the path of duty. 2. The state or result of having deviated; a transgression; an act of sin; an error; an offense. 2. (Com.) The voluntary and unnecessary departure of a ship from, or delay in, the regular and usual course of the specific voyage insured, thus releasing the underwriters from their responsibility. {Deviation of a falling body} (Physics), that deviation from a strictly vertical line of descent which occurs in a body falling freely, in consequence of the rotation of the earth. {Deviation of the compass}, the angle which the needle of a ship's compass makes with the magnetic meridian by reason of the magnetism of the iron parts of the ship. {Deviation of the line of the vertical}, the difference between the actual direction of a plumb line and the direction it would have if the earth were a perfect ellipsoid and homogeneous, -- caused by the attraction of a mountain, or irregularities in the earth's density.