longitude

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longitude

lon·gi·tude

(lŏn′jĭ-to͞od′, -tyo͞od′, lôn′-)

1. Angular distance on the earth's surface, measured east or west from the Prime Meridian at Greenwich, England, to the meridian passing through a position, expressed in degrees (or hours), minutes, and seconds.

2. Celestial longitude.

[Middle English, length, a measured length, from Old French, from Latin longitūdō, longitūdin-, from longus, long; see del- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

longitude

(ˈlɒndʒɪˌtjuːd; ˈlɒŋɡ-)

1. (Physical Geography) distance in degrees east or west of the prime meridian at 0° measured by the angle between the plane of the prime meridian and that of the meridian through the point in question, or by the corresponding time difference. See latitude¹

2. (Astronomy) astronomy short for celestial longitude

[C14: from Latin longitūdō length, from longus long¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lon•gi•tude

(ˈlɒn dʒɪˌtud, -ˌtyud)

n.

1. angular distance east or west on the earth's surface, as measured, usu. in degrees, from the meridian of some particular place to the prime meridian at Greenwich, England.

2. the angular distance of a celestial point from the great circle that is perpendicular to the ecliptic at the vernal equinox, measured through 360° eastward parallel to the ecliptic.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin longitūdō length. See longi-, -tude]

longitude

lon·gi·tude

(lŏn′jĭ-to͞od′)

Distance east or west on the Earth's surface, measured in degrees from a certain meridian, usually the prime meridian at Greenwich, England, which has a longitude of 0°. The distance of a degree of longitude is about 69 statute miles (111 kilometers) or 60 nautical miles at the equator, narrowing to zero at the poles. Longitude and latitude are the coordinates used to identify any point on the Earth's surface. Compare latitude.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

longitude

Location east or west of the prime meridian.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

longitude - the angular distance between a point on any meridian and the prime meridian at Greenwich

angular distance - the angular separation between two objects as perceived by an observer; "he recorded angular distances between the stars"

Translations

خَط الطّولخَطُّ الطُّولِ

délkazeměpisná délka

længdegradlængde

Länge Längengrad geografische Länge

γεωγραφικό μήκος

longitud

pituusaste

longitude

zemljopisna dužina

földrajzi hosszúság

lengd

longitudine longitudinale

経度

경도

ilgumailgumasišilginis

garums

longitud

เส้นแวง

boylam

kinh độ

经度

longitude

[ˈlɒŋgɪtjuːd] N → longitud f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

longitude

[ˈlɒndʒɪtjuːd] n → longitude f
250 degrees longitude → 250 degrés de longitude
at 250 degrees longitude → par 250 degrés de longitude

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

longitude

n → Länge f; lines of longitude → Längengrade pl

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

longitude

[ˈlɒŋgɪtjuːd] n → longitudine f

longitude

(ˈloŋgitjuːd) noun

the distance, measured in degrees on the map, that a place is east or west of a standard north-south line, usually that which passes through Greenwich. What is the latitude and longitude of that town?

ˌlongiˈtudinal adjective

ˌlongiˈtudinally adverb

longitude

→ خَطُّ الطُّولِ zeměpisná délka længdegrad Länge γεωγραφικό μήκος longitud pituusaste longitude zemljopisna dužina longitudine 経度 경도 longitude lengdegrad długość geograficzna longitude долгота longitud เส้นแวง boylam kinh độ 经度

References in classic literature ?

He returned in the month of August to Kouka; from there he successively traversed the Mandara, Barghimi, and Klanem countries, and reached his extreme limit in the east, the town of Masena, situated at seventeen degrees twenty minutes west longitude.

Ferguson carefully noted the fact, that he had stopped at four degrees north latitude and seventeen degrees west longitude.

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"Latitude was latitude, and longitude was longitude," would be the captain's retort.

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I have not got the ship's journal to refer to, and I cannot now call to mind the latitude and longitude. As to our position, therefore, I am only able to state generally that the currents drifted us in towards the land, and that when the wind found us again, we reached our port in twenty-four hours afterwards.

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Though the gregarious sperm whales have their regular seasons for particular grounds, yet in general you cannot conclude that the herds which hunted such and such a latitude or longitude this year, say, will turn out to be identically the same with those that were found there the preceding season; though there are peculiar and unquestionable instances where the contrary of this has proved true.

This chart divides the ocean into districts of five degrees of latitude by five degrees of longitude; perpendicularly through each of which districts are twelve columns for the twelve months; and horizontally through each of which districts are three lines; one to show the number of days that have been spent in each month in every district, and the two others to show the number of days in which whales, sperm or right, have been seen.

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In a few cases, to be sure, the name of a place would be added, as "Offe Caraccas," or a mere entry of latitude and longitude, as "62o 17' 20", 19o 2' 40"."

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Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think--' (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a VERY good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) `--yes, that's about the right distance--but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)

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Half-past six was no longer half-past six to these pilgrims from New England, the South, and the Mississippi Valley, it was "seven bells"; eight, twelve, and four o'clock were "eight bells"; the captain did not take the longitude at nine o'clock, but at "two bells." They spoke glibly of the "after cabin," the "for'rard cabin," "port and starboard" and the "fo'castle."

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At the time that the projectile was as high as the tenth parallel, north latitude, it seemed rigidly to follow the twentieth degree, east longitude. We must here make one important remark with regard to the map by which they were taking observations.

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At noon one day, he and the captain, having taken their observation of the sun, were hard at it below, working out the latitude and longitude on their slates.

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The 20th of July, the tropic of Capricorn was cut by 105d of longitude, and the 27th of the same month we crossed the Equator on the 110th meridian.