SETTING
, in Astronomy, the withdrawing of a star or planet, or its sinking below the horizon.
Astronomers and poets count three different kinds of Setting of the stars, viz, Achronical, Cosmical, and Heliacal. See these terms respectively.
Setting, in Navigation, Surveying, &c, denotes the observing the bearing or situation of any distant object by the compass, &c, to discover the angle it makes with the nearest meridian, or with some other line. See Bearing.
Thus, to set the land, or the fun, by the compass, is to observe how the land bears on any point of the compass, or on what point of the compass the sun is. Also, when two ships come in fight of each other, to mark on what point the chace bears, is termed Setting thechace by the compass.
Setting also denotes the direction of the wind, current, or sea, particularly of the two latter.
