latitude

plural latitudes

1. countableastronomyThe angular distance north or south from a planet's equator, measured along the meridian of that particular point.

   The oat is hardier than wheat, and ripens in higher latitudes.

   1880, Arthur Herbert Church, Food: Some Account of Its Sources, Constituents and Uses, London: Chapman and Hall, page 72

   1 more example

   Far from the center of Shang civilization, Wu-ch'eng is located well south of the Yangtze at approximately the same latitude as Ch'ang-sha in the west and Wen-chou in the east.

   2011, Ralph D. Sawyer, Ancient Chinese Warfare, Basic Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 137

2. countableuncountablegeographyAn imaginary line (in the form of a circumference) around a planet running parallel to the planet's equator.

   snow showers in the northerly latitudes

   Synonyms: parallel

3. countablefigurativelyuncountableThe relative freedom from restrictions; scope to do something.

   His parents gave him a great deal of latitude.

   1 more example

   "Love!" ejaculated the Comtesse; "And so throw away the chances of a life upon a month of honey!—I say a month, which is allowing a latitude tenderness never took...

   1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 208

   Synonyms: leeway

4. countableuncountableastronomyThe angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic.
5. countableuncountableartsThe extent to which a light-sensitive material can be over- or underexposed and still achieve an acceptable result.
6. countableuncountableExtent or scope; e.g. breadth, width or amplitude.