Meaning & use
Portolani
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Medieval navigational charts, especially of the Mediterranean, marked with coastlines, harbors, and compass lines; the Italian plural of 'portolano'.
See it in a sentence
Genoese and Venetian sailors relied on portolani to chart the coasts of the Mediterranean.
The exhibit displayed several hand-drawn portolani from the fourteenth century.
A note on using this word
Borrowed from Italian 'portolano' (a book of sailing directions), and used in English scholarship on the history of cartography.
Words with a similar meaning
portolan charts
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