Etymograph

English

latitude

Latitude comes from Old French latitude ‘breadth’, and goes back to Latin lātus ‘broad, wide’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātus1‘broad, wide’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātitūdō1‘breadth, width, latitude’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400latitude1‘breadth’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1834latitude1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English latitude
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “"Love!" ejaculated the Comtesse; "And so throw away the…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātusWiktionary, English latitude‘broad, wide’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātitūdōWiktionary, English latitude‘breadth, width, latitude’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400latitudeWiktionary, English latitude‘breadth’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1834latitudeWiktionary, English latitude. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “"Love!" ejaculated the Comtesse; "And so throw away the…”

The story

Possibly related with lateral, though this is uncertain.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin lātus ‘broad, wide’

le, lateral, dilate, dilatation, 12 more

Today it means

noun The angular distance north or south from a planet's equator, measured along the meridian of that particular point.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “latitude”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin lātus / latitude

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