nautical mile

noun
1.
a unit of distance used chiefly in navigation, equal to 6080.20 feet (1853.25 meters) in the U.S., now replaced by the international nautical mile.
Also called geographical mile, sea mile.
Origin
1625-35
Examples from the web for nautical mile
  • The term air mile, also known as a nautical mile, refers to the distance between two locations.
  • The term knot, in reference to currents, is defined as one nautical mile per hour and is used to measure speed.
  • The term knot is defined as one nautical mile per hour.
British Dictionary definitions for 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.
a former British unit of length equal to 1853.18 m (6080 ft), which was replaced by the international nautical mile in 1970 Former name geographical mile Compare sea mile
nautical mile in Science
nautical mile
  (nô'tĭ-kəl)   
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). Also called geographic mile. See Table at measurement.