- Angular distance east or west - Line of measure around the Earth - Line on map - Length; measure or distance along the longest line; --
distinguished from breadth or thickness; as, the longitude of a room;
rare now, except in a humorous sense. - The arc or portion of the equator intersected between
the meridian of a given place and the meridian of some other place from
which longitude is reckoned, as from Greenwich, England, or sometimes
from the capital of a country, as from Washington or Paris. The
longitude of a place is expressed either in degrees or in time; as,
that of New York is 74¡ or 4 h. 56 min. west of Greenwich. - The distance in degrees, reckoned from the vernal
equinox, on the ecliptic, to a circle at right angles to the ecliptic
passing through the heavenly body whose longitude is designated; as,
the longitude of Capella is 79¡.