The Collaborative International Dictionary
Latitude \Lat"i*tude\, n. [F. latitude, L. latitudo, fr. latus broad, wide, for older stlatus; perh. akin to E. strew.]
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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. -
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. -
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. -
Extent; size; amplitude; scope.
I pretend not to treat of them in their full latitude.
--Locke. (Geog.) Distance north or south of the equator, measured on a meridian.
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(Astron.) 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.
Ascending \As*cend"ing\, a. Rising; moving upward; as, an ascending kite. -- As*cend"ing*ly, adv. Ascending latitude (Astron.), the increasing latitude of a planet. --Ferguson. Ascending line (Geneol.), the line of relationship traced backward or through one's ancestors. One's father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, etc., are in the line direct ascending. Ascending node having, that node of the moon or a planet wherein it passes the ecliptic to proceed northward. It is also called the northern node. --Herschel. Ascending series. (Math.)
A series arranged according to the ascending powers of a quantity.
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A series in which each term is greater than the preceding.
Ascending signs, signs east of the meridian.