nautical mile

noun

: any of various units of distance used for sea and air navigation based on the length of a minute of arc of a great circle of the earth and differing because the earth is not a perfect sphere: such as

a

: a British unit equal to 6080 feet (1853.2 meters)

b

: an international unit equal to exactly 1852 meters (6076.115 feet or 1.15 statute miles) used officially in the U.S. since July 1, 1954

Examples of nautical mile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At an economical cruising speed of 9 knots, the yacht has a range of approximately 5,000 nautical miles. — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 6 Oct. 2026

The vessel was in Romania ’s exclusive economic zone, about 30 nautical miles (55 kilometers) south of Sfantul Gheorghe in Tulcea County. — ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026

On the fourth day on their journey and after about 600 nautical miles, near-perfect sailing conditions prevailed. — New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026

One of the most demanding tests was a long-endurance mission simulation covering 420 nautical miles. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nautical mile

• epicondyle
• geotextile
• nucleophile
• aisle
• bile
• chyle
• file
• guile
• heil
• isle
• kyle
• pile

Kids Definition

nautical mile

noun

: any of various units of distance used for sea and air navigation equal to about 6076 feet (1852 meters)