Etymologically
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altitude

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 13:26. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈæl.tɪ.tʃuːd/, US /ˈæl.tə.tuːd/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin altitūdō (“height”),[2][3][4][5][6] from altus (“high”) (see old),[2][3][4] literally “grown tall”, from Proto-Indo-European *al- (“to grow, nourish”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The height of a star or planet above the horizon: about 1386 in Barnhart, about 1391 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

Height or vertical extent in general is from the early 15th century,[3][7] and a high or exalted position from before 1400.[7] Elevated regions are altitudes from 1432–50,[7] height above sea level from 1535,[7] and the height of a triangle in geometry from 1570.[7] The same Latin word is behind altar, enhance, exalt and haughty.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1386 – altitude of a star.[2]
  • before 1400 – an exalted position.[7]
  • c. 1420 – height in general.[7]
  • 1535 – height above sea level.[7]
  • 1570 – altitude (geometry).[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Height above a reference level, especially above sea level.
  2. A high place or region, often in the plural.
  3. (astronomy, navigation) The angular distance of a heavenly body above the horizon.
  4. (geometry) The perpendicular distance from a vertex to the base of a figure.

Word family

  • altitudinal
  • altitudinous
  • altazimuth
  • altimetry
  • absolute altitude
  • altitude sickness
  • pressure altitude

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press