longitude
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees.
the angular distance of a place east or west of the meridian at Greenwich, England, or west of the standard meridian of a celestial object.
Simple“The captain checked the ship's longitude to see how far they had traveled across the ocean.”
In context“Determining precise longitude at sea remained a significant challenge for navigators until the invention of the marine chronometer in the eighteenth century.”
UsageUsually paired with latitude to provide a specific location.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
an imaginary line on a map that goes from the top of the Earth to the bottom.
any of the imaginary great circles passing through the North and South Poles, perpendicular to the equator.
Simple“Lines of longitude are closer together near the poles than they are at the equator.”
In context“The cartographer drew the lines of longitude at fifteen-degree intervals to represent the different time zones across the globe.”
Synonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
an old word for the length of something.
the linear extent or length of an object along its greatest dimension.
Simple“The old scrolls described the longitude of the temple walls in ancient units.”
In context“In the seventeenth-century manuscript, the architect specified the longitude of the gallery as being twice its breadth.”
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French longitude, from Latin longitūdō (“length, a measured length”), from longus (“long”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.