latitude

noun lat·i·tude \ ˈla-tə-ˌtüd , -ˌtyüd \

|Updated on: 9 Jun 2018

Examples: latitude in a Sentence

Definition of latitude

1 archaic : extent or distance from side to side : width

2 : angular distance from some specified circle or plane of reference: such as

a : angular distance north or south from the earth's equator measured through 90 degrees

an island located at 40 degrees north latitude

b : angular distance of a celestial body from the ecliptic

c : a region or locality as marked by its latitude

3 a : scope, range

b : the range of exposures within which a film or plate will produce a negative or positive of satisfactory quality

4 : freedom of action or choice

students are allowed considerable latitude in choosing courses

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latitudinal

play \ˌla-tə-ˈtüd-nəl, -ˈtyüd-; -ˈtü-də-nəl, -ˈtyü-\ adjective

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latitudinally

adverb

See latitude defined for English-language learners

See latitude defined for kids

Examples of latitude in a Sentence

a map of the world showing lines of latitude and longitude
located at a latitude of 40 degrees north
Madrid and New York City are on nearly the same latitude.
islands located at different latitudes
We weren't given much latitude in deciding how to do the job.
The judge has wide latitude to reject evidence for the trial.

Recent Examples of latitude from the Web

Working with Frank, Turton and Beneduce determined the photo’s exact location using the longitude and latitude from the images and even enlisted the help of an oceanographer to determine just how the sign traveled so far.

— char adams, PEOPLE.com, "N.J. Realty Sign Lost in Hurricane Sandy Found in France 5 Years Later: 'I Couldn't Believe It'," 1 June 2018
Officers are rarely prosecuted for police shootings, at least partly because they’re given wide latitude to use deadly force.

— p.r. lockhart, Vox, "A black man was fatally shot by law enforcement. A federal jury gave his family $4.," 31 May 2018
Stage 1 locates the server by downloading an image from Photobucket.com and extracting an IP address from six integer values used for GPS latitude and longitude stored in the EXIF field.

— dan goodin, Ars Technica, "Hackers infect 500,000 consumer routers all over the world with malware," 23 May 2018
The Court gives presidents wide latitude on immigration and national security matters, and does not typically examine the motives of the executive.

— liz goodwin, BostonGlobe.com, "Supreme Court will be asked to decide whether bigotry tainted Trump’s travel ban," 24 Apr. 2018
The interactive site also shows rotor diameter and hub height, turbine models and their positions by latitude and longitude.

— jim efstathiou jr, Bloomberg.com, "A Wind Lover's Dream: All 57,636 U.S. Wind Turbines on One Map," 20 Apr. 2018
Tied around their legs were specimen labels: faded, handwritten records of the date, altitude, latitude, and longitude of their capture, along with other vital details.

— Outside Online, "The Curious Case of the Fly-Fishing Feather Thief," 19 Apr. 2018
That investigation, led by former FBI Director Robert Mueller, was given wide latitude to explore potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow and has been a constant source of vexation for the president for much of the past year.

— aruna viswanatha, WSJ, "Trump Replies to Barbs in James Comey’s New Book on Twitter," 13 Apr. 2018
However, Sternberg's email announcement included a specific set of numbers at the bottom — 34.0522 N 118.2437 W — the latitude and longitude coordinates for the city of Los Angeles.

— adam tschorn, latimes.com, "From Band of Outsiders to the Entireworld: Scott Sternberg's latest apparel venture launches Monday," 28 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'latitude.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of latitude

Origin and Etymology of latitude

Middle English, from Latin latitudin-, latitudo, from latus wide; akin to Old Church Slavonic postĭlati to spread

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

latitude Synonyms

Synonyms

authorization, free hand, freedom, license (or licence), run;

range, room, space;

blank check, carte blanche;

Other Cartography Terms

Robinson projection, benchmark, plat, projection, topography

LATITUDE Defined for English Language Learners

latitude

noun

Definition of latitude for English Language Learners

: distance north or south of the equator measured in degrees up to 90 degrees
: an imaginary line that circles the Earth at a particular latitude and that is parallel to the equator
: freedom to choose how to act or what to do