Definition of "latitude"

latitude

/ˈlæt.ɪ.tjuːd/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural latitudes
1. (geography, astronomy, countable) The angular distance north or south from a planet's equator, measured along the meridian of that particular point.
  Quotations
  The oat is hardier than wheat, and ripens in higher latitudes.
  1880, Arthur Herbert Church, Food: Some Account of Its Sources, Constituents and Uses‎, London: Chapman and Hall, page 72
2. (geography) An imaginary line (in fact a circumference) around a planet running parallel to the planet's equator.
3. (figurative) The relative freedom from restrictions; scope to do something.
  Quotations
  "Love!" ejaculated the Comtesse; "And so throw away the chances of a life upon a month of honey!—I say a month, which is allowing a latitude tenderness never took...
  1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 208
4. (astronomy) The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic.
5. (photography) The extent to which a light-sensitive material can be over- or underexposed and still achieve an acceptable result.
6. Extent or scope; e.g. breadth, width or amplitude.