A constellation in the southern sky shaped like a compass or drawing tool; also, a historical drawing compass or geometric instrument.
From Latin 'circinus,' meaning 'compass' or 'pair of compasses,' derived from 'circum-' (around) and related to 'circus' (circle). Named by Lacaille in the 1750s.
There's an entire constellation literally named 'compass'—the 18th-century French astronomer Lacaille named it to honor the geometric tools that mapped the heavens, creating a beautiful recursive reference to measurement itself!
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