▪ I. elongate, v.
(ˈiːlɒŋgeɪt, ɪˈlɒŋgeɪt)
[f. late L. ēlongāt- ppl. stem of ēlongāre: see prec.]
† 1. trans. To remove, set at a distance (from).
| c 1540 Boorde The boke for to Lerne B j a, Let the common howse of esement be..elongatyd from the howse. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Elongate, to remove afar off. 1721–1800 Bailey, Elongate, to remove or carry a great way off. |
2. intr. † a. gen. To depart, move away or recede from (obs.). b. spec. in Astronomy: To recede apparently from the sun or a fixed point in the celestial sphere; said, e.g., of a star or a planet.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. ii. 63 But elongating from the coast of Brasilia toward the shore of Africa it [the south point] varyeth Eastward. 1775 Ash, Elongate, to go off to a distance. |
3. trans. To lengthen, draw out, prolong.
| 1578 Banister Hist. Man viii. 107 It [spinal marrow] is..a portion of the brayne elongated. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Elongate, to prolong. 1793 M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 9 Time has been given for the adhesions to be elongated by the motion of the heart. 1830 Scott Demonol. vii. 217 The mode of elongating a goat's back by means of a spit. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. vii, Having thus elongated and emphasised the word. |
4. Bot. (intr.) To grow or increase in length; to be lengthy; to have a slender or tapering form.
| 1801 Knight in Phil. Trans. XCI. 340 The wood between the bunch and the next leaf below, has ceased to elongate. 1828 H. Steuart Planter's G. 128 The minutest Fibres both expand and elongate with facility. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 263 Linaria repens..Racemes elongating. |
Hence ˈelongating ppl. a., that elongates.
| 1858 Greener Gunnery 422 The patent elongating socket. |
▪ II. elongate, a.
(ɪˈlɒŋgeɪt)
[formed as prec.]
Lengthened, prolonged, extended; esp. in Bot. and Zool. that is long in proportion to its breadth; that has a lengthened, slender, or tapering form.
| 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 196 Lip elongate..narrowing towards the point. 1847 Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 5. 235 The remaining five forming an elongate club. 1860 Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. 336 Immense unrecognised creatures of elongate form roam the ocean. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 103 Peduncles elongate. |
Hence as combining form ˈelongato-, in various zoological terms, as elongato-conical, -ovate, -triangular adjs., that has the form or outline of a lengthened cone, egg, triangle.
| 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 276 Ridges small, acute, sometimes elongato-conical. 1852 ― Crust. ii. 932 Hand..elongato-ovate. Ibid. i. 483 Beak lamellar, elongato-triangular. |