longitudinal

English

Etymology

From Middle English longitudinal, from Latin longitūdin-, oblique stem of longitūdō (“length, longitude”). By surface analysis, longitude +‎ -in- +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlɒŋɡɪˈt͡juːdɪnəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˌlɔŋɡɪˈt͡ʃʉwdɪnəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlɔnd͡ʒɪˈtudɪnəl/
• (General American, cot–caught merger, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌlɑnd͡ʒɪˈtudɪnəl/, /ˌlɑnd͡ʒəˈtudənəl/
• (weak vowel merger, in the US) IPA^(key): /ˌlɑnd͡ʒəˈtudənəl/
• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˌlɒŋd͡ʒəˈtudənəl/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /lɔŋɡəˈt͡ʃʉːdənəl/, /lɒŋɡəˈt͡ʃʉːdənəl/

Adjective

longitudinal (not comparable)

1. Relating to length.

   Antonym: transverse

   The motion about the longitudinal axis of an airplane is called roll.

2. Relating to the geographical longitude.

   The longitudinal position of a ship refers to its angular distance east or west from the prime meridian.

3. Running in the direction of the long axis of a body.
   • 1960 November, “New electric multiple-units for British Railways: Glasgow Suburban”, in Trains Illustrated, page 660:

     The units have transverse seats, two and three astride the passageway with single or double longitudinal seats alongside the two entrance vestibules in each car.

   • 2008, Youlian Hong, Roger Bartlett, editors, Routledge Handbook of Biomechanics and Human Movement Science, Routledge, →ISBN, page 165:

     The third rotation is about the longitudinal axis of the thigh.

   • 2023 February 22, Paul Stephen, “TfL reveals first of new B23s for Docklands Light Railway”, in RAIL, number 977, page 12:

     Unlike the older trains, the new units have walk-through carriages and longitudinal rather than transverse seating.

4. Forward and/or backward, relative to some defined direction.
5. (sciences and social sciences, of a study) Sampling data over time rather than merely once.

   Antonym: cross-sectional

   longitudinal studies

   • 2010 March 1, Don Peck, “How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     Examining national longitudinal data, Mossakowski has found that people who were unemployed for long periods in their teens or early 20s are far more likely to develop a habit of heavy drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) by the time they approach middle age.

Derived terms

• dorsolongitudinal
• heliolongitudinal
• longitudinal aberration
• longitudinal fissure
• longitudinally
• longitudinal recording
• longitudinal relaxation time
• longitudinal wave
• medial longitudinal fasciculus
• nonlongitudinal
• paleolongitudinal
• pseudolongitudinal

Translations

relating to length

• Finnish: pitkittäinen (fi), pituussuuntainen, pituus- (fi)
• French: longitudinal (fr)
• German: längenmäßig, longitudinal (de)
• Japanese: 経度の (ja) (keido no)
• Polish: podłużny (pl), długościowy
• Romanian: longitudinal (ro)
• Russian: долго́тный (ru) m (dolgótnyj)
• Spanish: longitudinal (es)
• Welsh: hydredol (cy)

relating to longitude

• Finnish: longitudinaalinen (fi)

running in the direction of the long axis of a body

• Bulgarian: надлъжен (nadlǎžen)
• Czech: podélný
• Dutch: overlangs (nl)
• Finnish: pitkittäinen (fi), pituussuuntainen
• German: längslaufend
• Hungarian: hosszanti (hu), hosszirányú (hu)
• Japanese: 縦の (ja) (tate no)
• Russian: осево́й (ru) m (osevój)
• Welsh: hydredol (cy)

forward and/or backward, relative to some defined direction

• Finnish: pitkittäinen (fi), pituussuuntainen
• Japanese: 進行方向の (shinkōhōkō no)
• Russian: продо́льный (ru) m (prodólʹnyj)

sampling data over time

• Finnish: pitkittäinen (fi)
• German: Längsschnitt (de) m
• Hungarian: longitudinális (hu), hosszmetszeti
• Irish: comhréireach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дугорочни

  Roman: dugoročni (sh)

• Spanish: longitudinal (es)

Noun

longitudinal (plural longitudinals)

1. Any longitudinal piece, as in shipbuilding etc.
2. (rail transport) A railway sleeper lying parallel with the rail.

Translations

any piece lying longitudinally

• Finnish: pitkittäinen + noun, pitkittäis- (fi)+ noun
• Maori: tari

type of railway sleeper

• Finnish: pitkittäispölkky

French

Etymology

From Latin longitūdō, longitūdinis (whence longitude) + -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ̃.ʒi.ty.di.nal/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

longitudinal (feminine longitudinale, masculine plural longitudinaux, feminine plural longitudinales)

1. longitudinal (relating to length; running in the direction of the long axis of a body)
2. longitudinal (relating to longitude)

   Coordinate term: latitudinal

3. longitudinal (sampling data over time rather than merely once)

   Coordinate term: transversal

Derived terms

• longitudinalement

Further reading

• “longitudinal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French longitudinal.

Adjective

longitudinal m or n (feminine singular longitudinală, masculine plural longitudinali, feminine and neuter plural longitudinale)

1. longitudinal

Declension

Declension of longitudinal

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	longitudinal		longitudinală		longitudinali	longitudinale
	definite	longitudinalul		longitudinala		longitudinalii	longitudinalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	longitudinal		longitudinale		longitudinali	longitudinale
	definite	longitudinalului		longitudinalei		longitudinalilor	longitudinalelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lonxitudiˈnal/ [lõŋ.xi.t̪u.ð̞iˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: lon‧gi‧tu‧di‧nal

Adjective

longitudinal m or f (masculine and feminine plural longitudinales)

1. longitudinal (relating to length or longitude)
2. longitudinal (sampling data over time)
   • 2001, Psicología infantil, Grupo Planeta (GBS) →ISBN, page 80

     El número de años que requiere un estudio longitudinal puede variar considerablemente.

     The number of years required by a longitudinal study may vary considerably.

Related terms

• longitud
• longitudinalmente

Further reading

• “longitudinal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10