Longitudinal

//ˌlɒŋ.ɡɪˈtjuː.dɪ.nəl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any longitudinal piece, as in shipbuilding etc.
  2. 2
    A railway sleeper lying parallel with the rail.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Running across a set direction of an object. not-comparable

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

  2. 2
    Running across a set direction of an object.; Running in the direction of the long axis of a body. not-comparable

    "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."

  3. 3
    Relating to the geographical longitude. not-comparable

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

  4. 4
    Of a study, sampling data over time rather than merely once. not-comparable

    "longitudinal studies"

Adjective
  1. 1
    over an extended time wordnet
  2. 2
    running lengthwise wordnet
  3. 3
    of or relating to lines of longitude wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
cephalocaudalcraniocaudallengthwiselengthwiselongrostrocaudal

Example

More examples

"A longitudinal wave is one that vibrates in the direction of propagation."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

longitudinal aberrationlongitudinal fissurelongitudinal recordinglongitudinal relaxation timelongitudinal systemlongitudinal wavemedial longitudinal fasciculus

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.