The bearing of an object on the coast from which a vessel commences her dead-reckoning and takes her departure. The distance of any two places lying on the same parallel counted in miles of the equator.
·noun Division; separation; putting away. II. Departure ·noun Removal from the present life; death;...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
Determining the place of a ship by means of the bearing and distance of a known object, and assuming...
The Sailor's Word-Book