SYNONYMY NOTE: irritable implies quick excitability to annoyance or anger, usually resulting from emotional tension, restlessness, physical indisposition, etc.; , irascible, choleric are applied to persons who are hot-tempered and can be roused to a fit of anger at the slightest irritation; , splenetic suggests a peevish moroseness in one quick to ...
Quick Answer. A map direction symbol is called a compass rose, and a simple compass rose symbol may only depict the four cardinal directions of north, east, west and south. A compass rose has been used on charts, atlases and maps by navigators since the 14th century. A more detailed compass rose can show many other directions.
The origin of the compass is shrouded in mystery. Certainly the Greeks knew about the attractive properties of magnetism in ancient times. Similarly, the Chinese were probably aware that an iron bar stroked with a lodestone acquired a directional north-south property as long as 2000 years ago.