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LONGITUDE (from Lat. longitudo, " len...

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 984 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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LONGITUDE (from Lat. longitudo, " length ")

LONGITUDE (from See also:
LAT
Lat. longitudo, " length ") , the See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle which the terrestrial See also:

meridian from the See also:

pole through a point on the See also:

earth's See also:

SURFACE

surface makes with some See also:

standard meridian, commonly that of See also:

GREENWICH

Greenwich. It is equal to the difference between See also:

LOCAL

local See also:

time on the standard meridian, and at the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place defined, one See also:

HOUR

hour of time corresponding to 15° difference of longitude. Formerly each nation took its own See also:

capital or See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

OBSERVATORY

observatory as the standard meridian from which longitudes were measured. Another See also:

SYSTEM

system had a meridian passing through or near the See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island of Ferro, defined as 20 W. of See also:

Paris, as the standard. While the system of counting from the capital of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country is still used for local purposes, the tendency in See also:

RECENT

recent years is to use the meridian of Greenwich for nautical and See also:

INTERNATIONAL, THE

international purposes. See also:

France, however, uses the meridian of the Paris observatory as its standard for all nautical and astronomical purposes (see TIME). In See also:

ASTRONOMY (from Gr. &arpov, a star, and v ,usiv, to classify or arrange)

astronomy, the longitude of a See also:

CELESTIAL, OR STELLAR

celestial See also:

BODY

body is the distance of its See also:

PROJECTION

projection upon the See also:

ECLIPTIC

ecliptic from the vernal See also:

EQUINOX (from the Lat. aequus, equal, and nox, night)

equinox, counted in the direction See also:

west to See also:

east from o° to 36o°.

End of Article: LONGITUDE (from Lat. longitudo, " length ")

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