Longitude

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun Length; measure or distance along the longest line;

— distinguished from breadth or thickness; as, the longitude of a room; rare now, except in a humorous sense.

II. Longitude ·noun The distance in degrees, reckoned from the vernal equinox, on the ecliptic, to a circle at right angles to the ecliptic passing through the heavenly body whose longitude is designated; as, the longitude of Capella is 79°.

III. Longitude ·noun The arc or portion of the equator intersected between the meridian of a given place and the meridian of some other place from which longitude is reckoned, as from Greenwich, England, or sometimes from the capital of a country, as from Washington or Paris. The longitude of a place is expressed either in degrees or in time; as, that of New York is 74° or 4h. 56m. west of Greenwich.

Related Words

  • longitude

    Is an arc of the equator, or any parallel of latitude, contained between the meridian of a place and...

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  • longitude, geocentric

    The angular distance of a heavenly body from the first point of Aries, measured upon the ecliptic, a...

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  • longitude, heliocentric

    The angular distance of a body from the first point of Aries, measured upon the ecliptic, as viewed ...

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  • circles of longitude

    These are great circles passing through the poles of the ecliptic, and so cutting it at right angles...

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  • complement of longitude

    See supplement of longitude. ...

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  • difference of longitude

    The difference of any place from another eastward or westward, counted in degrees of the equator: th...

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  • longitude by account

    The distance east and west, as computed from the ship's course and distance run, carried forward fro...

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  • longitude by chronometer

    Is estimated by the difference between the time at the place, and the time indicated by chronometer....

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  • supplement of longitude

    The term usually applied to its complement, or what it wants of 180°. ...

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  • longitude by lunar observation

    The longitude calculated by observing the moon's angular distance from the sun or a fixed star. It i...

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  • longitude of a celestial body

    An arc of the ecliptic, contained between the first point of Aries and a circle of longitude passing...

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