Editing Waypoint (section)

{{Short description|Point on a route of travel}}
{{Other uses}}
{{lead extra info|date=October 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Trip4YouMaps waypoints.png|thumb|A walking route with a number of waypoints marked]]
A '''waypoint''' is a point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping point, an intermediate point, or point at which course is changed,<ref name = oxford>{{cite web|author = Oxford Staff | date = January 26, 2017 | url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/waypoint | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043136/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/waypoint | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 2, 2017 | title=Waypoint—Definition… in English | work=OxfordDictionaries.com | access-date=January 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name=merriamwebster>{{cite web | author=MW Staff | date=January 26, 2017 | title=Definition of Waypoint | work=Merriam-Webster.com | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waypoint | access-date=January 26, 2017 | archive-date=February 2, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202024348/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waypoint | url-status=live }}</ref> the first use of the term tracing to 1880.<ref name=merriamwebster/> In modern terms, it most often refers to coordinates which specify one's position on the globe at the end of each "leg" (stage) of a journey.<ref name = oxford/>

Hence, the term connotes a reference point in physical space, most often associated with [[navigation]]. For example, in the case of sea navigation, a waypoint could mark the [[longitude|longitudinal]] and [[latitude|latitudinal]] coordinate or a GPS point in open water, a location near a known mapped shoal or other entity in a body of water, a point a fixed distance off of a geographical entity such as a lighthouse or harbour entrance, etc.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}} In air navigation, waypoints most often consist of a series of abstract GPS points that create artificial airways—"highways in the sky"—created specifically for purposes of air navigation that have no clear connection to features of the real world.