latitude
(ˈlætɪtjuːd)
[ad. L. lātitūd-o, f. lātus broad, wide: see -tude. Cf. F. latitude.]
I. Breadth, width.
1. a. Transverse dimension; extent as measured from side to side; breadth, width of a surface, as opposed to length; also occas. spaciousness. Now only jocular.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §39 Þe latitude of a climat is a lyne ymagined from north to south þe space of the erthe, fro the byginnyng of the firste clymat vnto the verrey ende of the same climat. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. xxiv. (1495) 335 Orion..his lengthe and longitude stretchyth nyghe to the brede and latitude of thre sygnes. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxvi, Twenty pase was the latytude. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. ii. xi. in Ashm. (1652) 137 Altytude, Latytude, and Profundyte. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 25 The latitude and bredth of the Zodiack is .xij. degrees. 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xxv. H b, The square of y⊇ ditches latitude. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 2 The Gulph of Venice..being seuen hundred miles in length, and seuen score in latitude. 1650 Fuller Pisgah 364 The great latitude and capacity of the Temple consisted in the outward Courts. a 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. ii. 64 Though his [sc. man's] Feet, the Basis of the Pillar of his Body, be much narrower than the latitude of his Body. 1692–4 L'Estrange Fables ccclvii. (1708) 375 'Tis a Field of a Huge Latitude that the Devil has to Dance..in. 1713 Pope Frenzy J. Dennis Miscell. (1732) III. 4 The Latitude of whose Countenance was not a little eclips'd by the Fullness of his Peruke. 1739 Neve Builder's Dict. (ed. 3) s.v. Building, The Longitude, Latitude and Crassitude of Ground-plates. 1830 T. Hamilton C. Thornton (1845) 99 His beaver was..distinguished by an unusual latitude of brim. |
† b. A tract or area as defined by its breadth; a wide compass or extent. Obs.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 81 Mony multitudes of peple may sytte vnder the latitude of oon figge tre. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vii. §1 (1873) 52 Fruitful showers..serve but for that season, and for a latitude of ground where they fall. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. iii. 95 A chace with a vengeance all the latitude of the land, the Canaanites flying as far as sea or mountains would give them leave. 1675 Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 59 What a vast distance is there betwixt the east and west! of all visible latitudes, this is the greatest. 1791 Cowper Yardley Oak 21 Thy yet close-folded latitude of boughs. |
2. a. Extent, range, scope. Also, great or full extent. Now rare.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxv. §9 (1873) 258 It is a thing of great use well to define what, and of what latitude those points are. 1625 Bacon Ess., Atheism (Arb.) 337 Even those Barbarous People, have the Notion, though they have not the Latitude, and Extent of it. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. viii. 33 For his great learning and latitude of knowledge sirnamed Magnus. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. ii. §77 Grant this Miracle of Oswald's Hand literally true in the Latitude thereof. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. iii. 16 They have assumed the nature of some part for a Note or two, and so want the full latitude of a Bass in those Notes. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 II. 123 The Greek word in the latitude of its signification..comprehendeth all these senses. 1691 Ray Creation i. (1692) 167 To compass and comprehend the whole Latitude of Learning. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 105 ¶1 The latitude to which this design may be extended. 1776 R. King in Life & Corr. (1894) I. 22 Had the scheme been executed with success, in its greatest latitude. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. i. i. 16 If this record be taken in its full latitude. 1851 Mansel Prol. Logica (1860) 40 The often quoted passage of Locke..when understood in its proper latitude. |
† b. The range within which anything may vary.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 52 a, Meate but a lyttel excedynge temperance..may yet kepe the body within the latitude or boundes of helthe. 1645 Fuller Good Th. in Bad T. (1680) 68, I find myself in the latitude of a fever: I am neither well nor ill. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. Disc. ix. 110 Our love to God consists not in any one determinate degree, but hath such a latitude, as best agrees with the condition of men. 1717 J. Keill Anim. Oecon. (1738) 247 The Latitude of a natural Perspiration is from about a Pound and half to three Pound. 1795 R. Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 160 Few stones admit of a greater latitude of composition. |
† c. Local range; wide diffusion or prevalence.
| 1612 Davies Why Ireland, etc. (1787) 177 The execution of all these laws had no greater latitude than the Pale. 1638 Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. vi. §42. 363 If you should contend for latitude with any one Religion, Mahumetisme would carry the victory from you. |
d. Photogr. The range of exposures for which an emulsion, printing paper, etc., will give acceptable contrast; spec. the ratio (or its logarithm) of the exposures between which the characteristic curve is straight.
| 1889 E. J. Wall Dict. Photogr. 98 The extreme latitude of exposure which most plates possess. 1907 Sheppard & Mees Investigations Theory Photogr. Process iii. i. 289 The latitude may be defined as the ratio of the exposure at which over-exposure commences to that at which under-exposure commences, and these two points must be arbitrarily defined. 1939 W. Clark Photogr. by Infrared iv. 60 The range or latitude of printing papers is thus always less than that of negative materials. 1962 W. G. Hyzer Engin. & Scientific High-Speed Photogr. v. 200 Actually the toe region of the curve is usable in recording shadow detail, which somewhat increases the effective latitude of the emulsion. |
3. a. Freedom from narrow restrictions; width or liberality of construction or interpretation; tolerated or permitted variety of action or opinion.
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. iii. §2 (1873) 99 Allowing..that latitude which is agreeable and familiar unto divine prophecies; being of the nature of their author, with whom a thousand years are but as one day. 1642 Chas. I in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1692) iii. I. 595 The Latitude they allow us of granting or denying of Pardons. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. vi. §198 A latitude of Judgement no Court can challenge to it self in any Cases. 1648 Eikon Bas. xiv. 115 In such latitudes of sens, I believ manie that love Mee and the Church well, may have taken the Covenant, who [etc.]. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 246 A greater latitude there must be left in doctrinals then practicals. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. i. §51 Christ went down to Hell (to preach to the Spirits there,) which last clause is left out in these Articles, and men left to a latitude concerning the cause, time and manner of his Descent. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 160 Your sons of latitude that court your grace. [Cf. I. 187 Your sons of breadth.] 1711 Addison Spect. No. 44 ¶8 There is a much greater Latitude for comick than tragick Artifices. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil i. ii. (1840) 28 The devil has some little latitudes and advantages for mischief. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xv. ix, He gave a latitude to his friends tongue, and desired him to speak plainly what he knew. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. ii. xvi. 70 A latitude to kill might subject the innocent to great inconveniencies. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. Fr. (1789) I. x. 68 The greatest ease and latitude allowed in behaviour and dress. 1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. IV. iv. iv. §27. 165 Natural good has been defined by Cumberland with more latitude than has been used by Paley. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law ii. 7 The latitude which a court of equity allows itself in enforcing agreements against the letter. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1877) I. xi. 150 In regard to time the Emperor grants you no latitude. 1868 Stanley Westm. Abb. iv. 325 Courayer's ‘Last Sentiments’, which were of the extremest latitude in theology. |
† b. Laxity of conduct or principle. Obs.
| 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. 1. 127 They live with that latitude and licentiousness, as if there were neither God, nor Justice for them. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. i. iii. (1692) 7 Which way soever this ungodly Latitude came in. 1702 Eng. Theophrast. 237 If statesmen..worked their heads, there would be no occasion for Latitude and insincerity. |
c. attrib. † latitude man = latitudinarian.
| 1662 S. P. (title) Brief Account of the new Sect of Latitude-men. Ibid. 5 In opposition to that hide-bound, strait-lac'd spirit that did then prevail, they were called Latitude-men. |
II. In Geography and Astronomy.
4. Geog. a. Angular distance on a meridian: only in degree, minute, etc. of latitude. b. The angular distance on its meridian (of any place on the earth's surface) north or south from the equator; quantitatively identical with the elevation of the pole above the horizon, and with the declination of the zenith.
For circle, parallel of latitude, see those words.
[In their original geographical use latitude (L. latitudo, Gr. πλάτος) and longitude (L. longitudo, Gr. µῆκος) meant quite literally the ‘breadth’ and ‘length’ of the oblong map of the known world; this literal sense remained even in the expression ‘degrees of latitude and longitude’ (µοῖραι πλάτους και µήκους). By a natural development the terms afterwards came (in late Latin, app. not yet in Greek) to denote the distance of any place, in the breadthwise and lengthwise direction respectively, from the circle assumed as the origin of measurement.]
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. Prol., A suffisaunt astralabie as for owre orizonte, compowned after the latitude of Oxenford. Ibid. ii. §22 The latitude of any place in a regioun is the distance fro the senyth vnto the Equinoxial. 1527 R. Thorne in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 253 This latitude is the measure of the world from North to South. c 1550 Disc. Common Weal Eng. (1893) 13 b, How could youe knowe towarde what coste ye be sea driven withoute knowledge of the latitude of the place by the poolle and the lengthe by the starres? 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 123 Ther shalbe so many, as there are paralleles of latitude, whose nombre as I saide was .90. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xix. 316 To fortie three Degrees of North'ly Latitude. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. iv. iv. 157 How to correct the Account, when the Dead Latitude differs from the Observed Latitude..if the Difference of Latitude be less by Estimation than it is by Observation [etc.]. 1698 J. Keill Exam. Theory Earth (1734) 107 The Latitude of Paris being 48°· 45'. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., Whenever a Ship sails to or from the Equinoctial on either side, her way thus gain'd is call'd her Difference of Latitude. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxxviii, We have made a famous run. It's twelve o'clock, and if you please I'll work the latitude. 1867 Denison Astron. without Math. 9 A degree of latitude measured on any meridian is about 69 miles everywhere. |
c. A locality as marked or defined by parallels of latitude; usually in pl. = regions, climes, parts of the world. Also fig.
| 1632 Massinger City Madam ii. ii, They serve For any latitude in Christendom. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 3988/1 A French Privateer..which he took in this Latitude. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. vi. (1840) 101, I was something chilly, which I knew was not usual in that latitude. 1760–2 Goldsmith Cit. of the World cxiv. (Globe) 265/1 A lady's whole cargo of smiles, sighs, and whispers, is declared utterly contraband, till she arrives in the warm latitudes of twenty-two. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 59 Very little meat and wine are necessary in these hot latitudes. 1855 Prescott Phillip II i. v. (1857) 75 The flag of Castile was seen in the remotest latitudes,—on the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the far-off Indian seas. 1871 Morley Carlyle (1878) 157 Men who have long since moved far away from these spiritual latitudes. 1882 W. R. Greg Misc. Ess. Ser. i. v. 103 Those latitudes and altitudes where no crops will grow. 1885 J. Martineau Types Eth. Theory I. 115 Leaving blank vast latitudes on the map of human thought. |
5. Astron. The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic: called spec. celestial latitude. (See also ascending vbl. n., geocentric a. 1, heliocentric a. 1, and heliographic a. 1.)
The history of this sense appears to be as follows. Orig. the word was applied, on the analogy of the geographical use (see 4) to denote the angular distance of a point in the celestial sphere from the equator, measured along a secondary to the latter. This, however, was not accurately distinguished by name from the distance of a point from the ecliptic, the terms ‘latitude’ and ‘declination’ being employed indiscriminately with reference to both these ways of indicating position. (Cf. quot. 1391.) In mod. use, the terms have been differentiated, declination being appropriated to what was originally and with historical propriety called ‘latitude’, while latitude became the name for distance from the ecliptic.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §17 Fro the Equinoxial may the declinacion or the latitude of any body celestial be rikned, after the site north or south,..& riht so may the latitude or the declinacion of any body celestial, saue only of the sonne..be rekned fro the Ecliptic lyne. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 176 Proprelye they doo call that the Latitude of the Planetes, when they swarue from the Ecliptike line. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xi. (1636) 298 The Latitude is counted from the said Ecliptique line towards any of the Poles of the Zodiaque. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 11 Mars in his latitude leaueth the eclipticke line foure halfe degrees. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., Apparent Latitude, is the Distance of the apparent, or seeming Place of any Planet from the Ecliptick; and True Latitude is the Distance of its real Place from the same Ecliptick. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. §555. 269 The right ascension and declination are then easily converted by calculation into celestial longitiude and latitude if required. |