longitude
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French longitude, from Latin longitūdō (“length, a measured length”), from longus (“long”).
Pronunciation edit
- (UK, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈlɒnɡɪtjuːd/, /ˈlɒnd͡ʒɪtjuːd/ (More traditional) IPA(key): /-tʃuːd/ (Yod Coalescence)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈlɑnd͡ʒəˌtud/
audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file)
Noun edit
longitude (countable and uncountable, plural longitudes)
- (geography) Angular distance measured west or east of the prime meridian.
- Coordinate term: latitude
- 2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist[1], volume 100, number 2, page 87:
- But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.
- (geography, astronomy) Any imaginary line perpendicular to the equator and part of a great circle passing through the North Pole and South Pole.
- Synonym: meridian
- (archaic) Length.
- 1831, Francis Griffin, “Griffin's Remains”, in The American Quarterly Review, volume 10, page 504:
- His shoulders are remarkably sloping, giving an appearance of great longitude to his neck.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
angular distance
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imaginary line through North Pole and South Pole
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See also edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin longitūdō (“length, a measured length”), from longus (“long”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
longitude f (plural longitudes)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “longitude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
Learned borrowing from Latin longitūdō (“length, a measured length”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
longitude f (plural longitudes)
- (geography) angular distance measured west or east of the Greenwich Meridian
- (geography, astronomy) an imaginary line perpendicular to the equator, passing through the North Pole and South Pole