longitude
longitude Lexical Profile
longitude Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The angular distance of a place east or west of the prime meridian (usually at Greenwich, England), expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds.
"The navigator used a marine chronometer to calculate the ship's exact longitude at sea."
The angular distance of a celestial body along the ecliptic, measured eastward in degrees from the vernal equinox.
"Astronomers tracked the planet's celestial longitude as it moved across the night sky."
Word Nuance & Usage
Often confused with 'latitude'; longitude lines (meridians) run vertically from pole to pole to measure east-west position, whereas latitude lines (parallels) run horizontally to measure north-south position.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Latin 'longitudo', meaning 'length', derived from 'longus' ('long'). Ancient Roman geographers conceptualized the known inhabited world as wider from east to west ('longitude' or length) than from north to south ('latitude' or breadth).