longitude
noun
Simple meaning
The angular distance between a point on any meridian and the prime meridian at Greenwich.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
lahnjuhtoodSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlɑndʒətud
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
geography
The angular distance between a point on any meridian and the prime meridian at Greenwich
“Ships use longitude and latitude to pinpoint their exact location.”
geography
Angular distance measured west or east of the prime meridian.
geographyastronomy
Any imaginary line perpendicular to the equator and part of a great circle passing through the North Pole and South Pole.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The angular distance between a point on any meridian and the prime meridian at Greenwich
Used this way, longitude is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Ships use longitude and latitude to pinpoint their exact location.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use longitude
- “Sailors use lines of latitude and longitude to pinpoint their exact location.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The equatorial coordinate specifying the angle, measured eastward along the celestial equator, from the vernal equinox to the intersection of the hour circle that passes through an object…
An imaginary great circle on the surface of the earth passing through the north and south poles at right angles to the equator.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to lines of longitude.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: angular distance between a point on any meridian and the prime meridian at Greenwich
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.