A compass heading is a direction expressed as a three- or four-letter abbreviation. The abbreviations NNW (3 letters), EAST (4 letters), ENE (3 letters), ESE (3 letters), NNE (3 letters), SSE (3 letters), and SSW (3 letters) all refer to compass headings. NNW stands for North-Northwest, EAST stands for EAST, ENE stands for EAST-Northeast, ESE stands for EAST-Southeast, NNE stands for North-Northeast, SSE stands for South-Southeast, and SSW stands for South-Southwest.