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lon·gi·tude
 longitude
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- pronunciation:
- lan
jih
tud
- features:
- Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
Longitude is something that helps people understand how far east or west something is on the earth. Longitude is the distance east or west from an imaginary line on the globe that goes from the north pole to the south pole. It was decided a long time ago that this imaginary line would go through a certain place in England near London. That line is the starting point, and it is called "zero degrees longitude." If you look at a globe, you can see lines that go up and down. These are the lines that show longitude.
Before people were able to measure longitude, it was difficult for ships to navigate correctly. If people on a ship could not see familiar land, they did not know exactly where they were. They could figure out how far north or south they were because the stars helped them, but they could not tell how far east or west they were.
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