latitude

Forms

latitude f (plural latitudes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lātitūdō (“breadth, width, extent”), borrowed in 1314.^[2][3][4] The Latin noun is formed on lātus (“broad, wide”),^[2][5][1] which Wiktionary traces to an older stlātus.^[1] The same Latin adjective gave the inherited lé.^[3]

Cognate with Spanish latitud and Italian latitudine.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1314 in Henri de Mondeville's surgery, in the plain Latin sense “breadth”, of the width of the chest and of a bandage.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French the word kept the general Latin meaning “breadth”, until largeur replaced it, as it replaced lé and laize.^[3] From it came the figurative sense “wide scope or extension” of a principle or a proposition, recorded by the Académie (1694 according to the GLLF, 1798 according to the TLFi), which has aged;^[7][2][3] the abstract sense “freedom to act” (1762, Charles Bonnet) is the one in use today.^[2][3]

The word specialized above all in geography, as the distance of a place from the equator measured along the meridian, opposed to longitude.^[3][2] The sources date this sense differently: the TLFi and Rey give about 1525, in a French translation of Pigafetta's voyage, Bloch and Wartburg about 1370 in Oresme, the Petit Robert 1361.^[2][3][4][8] By metonymy it named a climate considered by its temperature (1575, Paré), then also, from 1780 (Buffon), a region seen from the point of view of its climate.^[2][3] By analogy it is also a term of astronomy (1585 according to Rey and the GLLF, 1680 in Richelet according to the TLFi).^[3][7][2]

The Latin stem also gave latitudinaire (1696 according to Rey, 1704 according to Bloch and Wartburg), a theological term for those who take liberties with doctrine.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses it for “breadth”.^[2][4]
• c. 1370 – Oresme uses it in geography, according to Bloch and Wartburg.^[4]
• c. 1525 – A French translation of Pigafetta's voyage gives a latitude of ten degrees.^[2][3]
• 1575 – Paré uses it of climate considered by its temperature.^[2][3]
• 1585 – First record in astronomy, according to Rey.^[3][7]
• 1690 – Furetière records latitude boréale and latitude australe.^[7]
• 1762 – Charles Bonnet uses it for freedom of action.^[2][3]
• 1780 – Buffon uses it for a region considered by its climate.^[2][3]
• 1798 – The Académie records the sense “extension of an idea”.^[2][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Breadth; especially the wide scope or extension given to a principle or a statement.^[8][2]
2. Freedom or power to act as one sees fit: donner or laisser toute latitude to someone.^[8][3]
3. (geography) The angular distance of a place from the equator, measured in degrees along the meridian, as opposed to longitude.^[8][6][1]
4. A climate or region considered according to its distance from the equator.^[2][1]
5. (astronomy) The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic.^[1][3]

Word family

• latitudinaire

Related words

• lé
• Latin lātus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF