longitudinal

adjective lon·gi·tu·di·nal \ ˌlän-jə-ˈtüd-nəl , -ˈtyüd- , -ˈt(y)ü-dᵊn-əl , British also ˌläŋ-gə- \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

Examples: longitudinal in a Sentence

Definition of longitudinal

1 : placed or running lengthwise

The insect's back is black with yellow longitudinal stripes.

2 : of or relating to length or the lengthwise dimension

the longitudinal extent of the building

3 : involving the repeated observation or examination of a set of subjects over time with respect to one or more study variables

a longitudinal study of juvenile offenders over a period of five years

—

longitudinally

adverb

See longitudinal defined for English-language learners

See longitudinal defined for kids

Examples of longitudinal in a Sentence

The insect's body is black with yellow longitudinal stripes.
calculating the longitudinal position of a ship
a longitudinal study of career aspirations among girls from 5 to 17

Recent Examples of longitudinal from the Web

Regenerative braking levels can be adjusted, and in its most aggressive mode the I-Pace is claimed to be able to achieve a longitudinal braking force of up to 0.4 g without using its friction brakes.

— mike duff, Car and Driver, "2019 Jaguar I-Pace: The Electric Jag Is Finally Here," 1 Mar. 2018
But there hasn’t been a long-term, longitudinal study conducted on such training within a large organization, according to L. Song Richardson, dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law.

— julie jargon, WSJ, "In Anti-Bias Training, Starbucks Enlists Hip-Hop Artist Common, Chairman Howard Schultz," 26 May 2018
The center is also wrapping up a prospective longitudinal research project that followed 4,000 Northwestern University students, tracking those who got mononucleosis.

— megan doherty, Chicago Reader, "ME myalgic encephalomyelitis chronic fatigue syndrome CFS Millions Missing Depaul University CDC," 10 May 2018
In a longitudinal study in the U.K. published in March in the journal BMC Public Health, researchers followed nearly 10,000 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15 for five years.

— jennifer breheny wallace, WSJ, "The Teenage Social-Media Trap," 4 May 2018
In 2005, University of Texas physiologist Edward Coyle published a longitudinal study that tracked Lance Armstrong’s lab data over a seven-year period.

— alex hutchinson, Outside Online, "Training Makes Runners More Efficient, but Not Cyclists," 30 Apr. 2018
In its second prototype, Bollinger is moving to a pack shape that’s longitudinal, for installation down the middle of the vehicle, rather than under the back seat.

— bengt halvorson, Car and Driver, "Made in Detroit: Aspiring Electric-SUV Maker Bollinger Moving to the Motor City," 23 Jan. 2018
Getting randomized, longitudinal studies of real workers in the real world is tricky.

— Outside Online, "Creating a workplace that truly makes us happy and healthy takes a lot more than standing desks and on-site yoga. Thankfully, new research has sparked a growing design revolution.," 26 Mar. 2018
Stoppelman explained that individual warp threads, which make up the longitudinal pattern in woven cloth, are put on a roller and then threaded individually through wire heddles, which are attached to a shaft and then to a foot treadle.

— annie gentile, Courant Community, "Rag Rug Project Upcycles Old Cloth," 22 Mar. 2018

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

First Known Use of longitudinal

15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

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LONGITUDINAL Defined for English Language Learners

longitudinal

adjective

Definition of longitudinal for English Language Learners

: placed or going along the long side of something
: of or relating to longitude
: done by observing or examining a group of people or things over time to study how one or two particular things about them change

LONGITUDINAL Defined for Kids

longitudinal

adjective lon·gi·tu·di·nal \ ˌlän-jə-ˈtü-dᵊn-əl , -ˈtyü- \

Definition of longitudinal for Students

: placed or running lengthwise

longitudinal stripes

—

longitudinally

adverb

Medical Dictionary

longitudinal

adjective lon·gi·tu·di·nal \ ˌlän-jə-ˈt(y)üd-ᵊn-əl, -nəl, British also ˌläŋ-gə-ˈtyüd- \

medical Definition of longitudinal

1 : of, relating to, or occurring in the lengthwise dimension

a longitudinal bone fracture

2 : extending along or relating to the anteroposterior axis of a body or part

a trypanosome which reproduces by longitudinal fission

3 : involving the repeated observation or examination of a set of subjects over time with respect to one or more study variables (as general health, the state of a disease, or mortality)