altitude
English
Etymology
From Middle English, borrowed from Latin altitūdō (“height”), from altus (“high”).
Pronunciation
Noun
altitude (countable and uncountable, plural altitudes)
- The absolute height of a location, usually measured from sea level.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
- Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
- As the altitude increases, the temperature gets lower, so remember to bring warm clothes to the mountains.
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- A vertical distance.
- (geometry) The distance measured perpendicularly from a figure's vertex to the opposite side of the vertex.
- The perpendicular height of a triangle is known as its altitude.
- (astronomy) The angular distance of a heavenly body above our Earth's horizon.
- Height of rank or excellence; superiority.
- 1704, [Jonathan Swift], A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC:
- Whoever has an ambition to be heard in a crowd, must press, and squeeze, and thrust, and climb, with indefatigable pains, till he has exalted himself to a certain degree of altitude above them.
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- (dated, in the plural) Elevation of spirits; heroics; haughty airs.
- 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
- The man of law began to get into his altitudes.
- 1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC:
- Is this deified passion , in its greatest altitudes , fitted to stand the day ?
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- Highest point or degree.
- c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- He is [proud] even to the altitude of his virtue.
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Derived terms
- absolute altitude
- altitude sickness
- critical altitude
- high-altitude
- low-altitude
- medium-altitude
- minimum descent altitude
- minimum sector altitude
- pressure altitude
- transition altitude
Translations
absolute height
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distance measured upwards
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distance measured perpendicularly from a figure's vertex to the opposite side of the vertex
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distance measured angularly of a heavenly body
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Further reading
- altitude in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- “altitude”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /al.ti.tyd/
Audio (file)
Related terms
Further reading
- “altitude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician
Portuguese
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