This designates a line that cuts the meridians of a sphere at a constant angle and thus corresponds to the path of a boat that does not change course. A rhumb line is represented by a straight line on a Mercator projection map. The loxodrome is not the shortest distance between two points; that is the orthodrome, or the great circle of the sphere.
See also: Conformal (Projection), Orthodrome, Equivalent (Projection), Projection (System of)
[French: Loxodromie]