WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Lat"i*tude
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F. latitude, L. latitudo, fr. latus broad, wide, for older stlatus; perh. akin to E. strew.]
Definition : 1. Extent from side to side, or distance sidewise from a given point or line; breadth; width. Provided the length do not exceed the latitude above one third part. Sir H. Wotton.

2. Room; space; freedom from confinement or restraint; hence, looseness; laxity; independence. In human actions there are no degrees and precise natural limits described, but a latitude is indulged. Jer. Taylor.

3. Extent or breadth of signification, application, etc.; extent of deviation from a standard, as truth, style, etc. No discreet man will believe Augustine's miracles, in the latitude of monkish relations. Fuller.

4. Extent; size; amplitude; scope. I pretend not to treat of them in their full latitude. Locke.

5. (Geog.)

Defn: Distance north or south of the equator, measured on a meridian.

6. (Astron.)

Defn: The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic. Ascending latitude, Circle of latitude, Geographical latitude, etc. See under Ascending. Circle, etc. -- High latitude, that part of the earth's surface near either pole, esp. that part within either the arctic or the antarctic circle. -- Low latitude, that part of the earth's surface which is near the equator.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913