latitude

Noun

latitude (countable and uncountable, plural latitudes)

1. (countable) The 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
   • 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. An 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. (figuratively) The relative freedom from restrictions; scope to do something.
   • His parents gave him a great deal of latitude.
   • "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. The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic.
5. The extent to which a light-sensitive material can be over- or underexposed and still achieve an acceptable result.
6. Extent or scope; e.g. breadth, width or amplitude.