Noun

(en noun)

A mechanical device that supports another part and/or reduces friction.

(navigation, nautical) The horizontal angle between the direction of an object and another object, or between it and that of true north; a heading or direction.

Relevance; a relationship or connection.

That has no bearing on this issue.

* Alexander Pope

But of this frame, the bearings and the ties, / The strong connections, nice dependencies.

One's posture, demeanor, or manner.

She walks with a confident, self-assured bearing .

* Shakespeare

I know him by his bearing .

(in the plural) Direction or relative position.

(architecture) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports.

A lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall.

(architecture) The portion of a support on which anything rests.

(architecture, proscribed) The unsupported span.

The beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.

(heraldry) Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms.

* Thackeray

A carriage covered with armorial bearings .

Noun

(en noun)

A sequence of events.

# A normal or customary sequence.

#* Shakespeare

The course of true love never did run smooth.

#* Milton

Day and night, / Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course .

# A programme, a chosen manner of proceeding.

# Any ordered process or sequence or steps.

# A learning program, as in a school.

#* 1661 , , The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond

During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant

#* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses , the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}

# A treatment plan.

# A stage of a meal.

# The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.

#* Bible, 2 Chron. viii. 14

He appointed the courses of the priests.

A path that something or someone moves along.

# The itinerary of a race.

# A racecourse.

# The path taken by a flow of water; a watercourse.

# (sports) The trajectory of a ball, frisbee etc.

# (golf) A golf course.

# (nautical) The direction of movement of a vessel at any given moment.

# (navigation) The intended passage of voyage, such as a boat, ship, airplane, spaceship, etc.

(nautical) The lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast.

.

A row or file of objects.

# (masonry) A row of bricks or blocks.

# (roofing) A row of material that forms the roofing, waterproofing or flashing system.

# (textiles) In weft knitting, a single row of loops connecting the loops of the preceding and following rows.

(music) A string on a lute.

(music) A pair of strings played together in some musical instruments, like the vihuela.