longitudinaladj.n.
/ˌlɒŋɡᵻˈtjuːdᵻnl/, /ˌlɒŋɡᵻˈtʃuːdᵻnl/, /ˌlɒn(d)ʒᵻˈtjuːdᵻnl/, /ˌlɒn(d)ʒᵻˈtʃuːdᵻnl/, U.S. /ˌlɔndʒəˈt(j)udənl/, /ˌlɔndʒəˈt(j)udn̩əl/, /ˌlɑndʒəˈt(j)udənl/, /ˌlɑndʒəˈt(j)udn̩əl/ A. adj.
1.
a. Medicine, Anatomy, and Zoology. Extending in the direction of the long axis of the body or a body part.
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?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 97v (MED) It is said þat fracture, som is symple, Som componed..Som is..transuersal, Som cissurale or longitudinale [?c1425 Paris longe; L. longitudinalis].
c1475 ( MS Wellcome 564 f. 28v The secunde principal part of þe necke beþ ij seruices, þe whiche ben certeyn longitudinel fleisch ligginge in þe myddil vp þe tweie sidis of þese aforseid spondilis.
1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. L.iii The substaunce of the Kidnes is Lazartus fleshe, hauing Longitudinal wyl.
1657 N. Culpeper & W. Rand tr. J. Riolan Sure Guide iv. ii. 126 It is disseminated up and down every way even as far as the Longitudinal Cavity of the Dura Meninx.
1715 G. Cheyne Philos. Princ. Relig. (ed. 2) i. iii. 318 The oblique Fibres, which make but few turns serve to propagate gently the included Fluid, the Longitudinal ones to move the Vessel.
1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) ii. 27 Several of the species are beautifully coloured with longitudinal stripes.
1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life 1 The longitudinal fissure in which is lodged the longitudinal sinus.
1947 A. D. Imms Outl. Entomol. (ed. 3) iii. 84 Shortly after gastrulation the central nervous system develops as a pair of longitudinal neural ridges of the ectoderm.
1987 M. S. Laverack & J. Dando Lect. Notes Invertebr. Zool. (ed. 3) ii. 21/2 Within each longitudinal ciliary row the beat is sequential and a metachronal rhythm is set up.
2008 J. Mclester & P. St. Pierre Appl. Biomech. xi. 338 Longitudinal fibers of a given muscle are not necessarily the same length.
b. Extending or proceeding in the direction of the length of an object; running lengthwise.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > [adjective] > relative direction
longitudinal1705
discordant1869
concordant1914
hetero-axial1926
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adjective] > extending lengthways
side?a1400
endlong1480
lengthway1691
longitudinal1705
longitudinated1774
protensive1836
lengthwise1871
1705 G. Cheyne Philos. Princ. Nat. Relig. 208 This lateral pressure, is greater, when the Velocity of the longitudinal Motion is so.
1751 R. O. Cambridge Scribleriad iv. 6 (note) Asbestus is a mineral substance of a whitish silver colour, and a woolly texture, consisting of small threads or longitudinal fibres.
1807 M. Baillie Morbid Anat. (ed. 3) xx. 394 A longitudinal section was made with a saw completely through its substance.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 564 If two pieces of timber are connected, so that the joint runs parallel with the fibres of both, it is called a longitudinal joint.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xii. 88 The glacier..is in a state of longitudinal strain.
1924 Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer. 14 28 Tectonic earthquakes have also been divided into longitudinal and transverse earthquakes according as they are associated with the strike or transverse faults of a district.
1937 S. W. Wooldridge & R. S. Morgan Physical Basis Geogr. xxi. 354 The terms ‘concordant’ and ‘discordant’, proposed by Supan, are good alternatives for ‘longitudinal’ and ‘transverse’, in the general description of coastlines.
1971 C. R. Twidale Struct. Landforms i. 11 Cross joints which cut vertically across the lineation or foliation of the rock; and longitudinal joints, which run parallel to such textural features in a vertical plane.
2007 F. G. Bell Engin. Geol. (ed. 2) ix. 480 The results..can be plotted on the longitudinal section of a tunnel.
c. Botany. Running in the direction of the length of a branch, stem, root, etc. Also: elongated in shape.
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1717 Philos. Trans. 1714–16 (Royal Soc.) 29 489 These Parenchymous Parts are interwoven with the longitudinal Wood-Vessels.
1787 E. Darwin et al. tr. C. Linnaeus et al. Families of Plants I. 76 Petals four, egg'd, sessile, with a longitudinal pit at the base.
1817 L. W. Dillwyn Descr. Catal. Recent Shells II. 766 This shell, in Chemnitz's figure, appears to be..of a whitish colour tinged with pale red in longitudinal waves.
1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 565 The beginning of the formation of lenticels takes place..before longitudinal extension is complete.
1916 E. W. Berry Lower Eocene Floras 351/2 The saclike bracts of our two American species are larger than the fossil and have fewer longitudinal veins.
2010 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) May 65/1 Two different longitudinal sectors of tissue are visible in a plant organ, but their growth is not stable.
d. Of a vibration or oscillation: produced or occurring in the direction of the length of the vibrating object; (Physics, of a wave) characterized by displacements parallel to the direction of propagation.Longitudinal waves in a material medium are also called compressional waves or pressure waves.
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the world > matter > physics > science of sound > vibration > [adjective] > involving length
harmonical1728
longitudinal1797
harmonic1832
1797 Eng. Rev. Feb. 218 The string on this occasion vibrates in the direction of it's length, or alternately extends and contracts itself longitudinally. Hence he terms this kind of vibration longitudinal, the other transverse.
1813 J. M. Kinneir Geogr. Mem. Persian Empire 222 It [sc. desert sand] is raised by the wind into longitudinal waves, which present, on the side towards the point from which the wind blows, a gradual slope from the base.
1840 Naut. Mag. & Naval Chron. Oct. 692 The huge longitudinal wave, the dashing of which upon a strand, we call a breaker.
1867 J. Tyndall Sound v. 159 The sounds produced by the longitudinal vibrations of a string are, as a general rule, much more acute than those produced by its transverse vibrations.
1896 Proc. Royal Soc. 1895–6 59 272 The electric action..may not be sudden enough or violent enough to produce enough of longitudinal waves, or of condensational-rarefactional vibrations, to act sensibly on a photographic plate.
1912 Nature 5 Sept. 4/2 The usual seismographic record shows three chief groups of disturbances, due respectively to the longitudinal and transverse waves through the core..and to the superficial waves round the crust.
1936 P. M. Morse Vibration & Sound vi. 188 Plane waves of sound, longitudinal waves, obey the same wave equation as do the transverse waves on a string.
1963 J. Blitz Fund. Ultrasonics vi. 167 Bömmel and Dransfeld measured the attenuation of both longitudinal and shear waves in quartz.
2005 R. E. Newnham Properties of Materials xxiii. 249/1 For low symmetry directions, there are generally three different waves with the same wave normal, a longitudinal wave and two shear waves.
2. Of or relating to longitude; expressed in terms of longitude; measured in an east–west direction.
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the world > the earth > geodetic references > [adjective] > longitude
longitudinal1706
longitudinarian1853
1706 E. Wells Treat. Antient & Present Geogr. (ed. 2) Pref. sig. av They must Add or Subtract (as occasion requires) the Longitudinal Difference between London and the First Meridian of such other Maps they make use of.
1740 T. Morgan Moral Philosopher III. 346 The same Distances hold in all the longitudinal Lines drawn from any Port of the Mediterranean to the Desart.
1874 E. Coues Birds Northwest 360 Its longitudinal dispersion is thus quite restricted, contrary to the rule among our birds of this..continent.
1962 G. Murchie Music of Spheres ii. 32 Altitude inevitably growing into radial distance..and latitudinal and longitudinal direction from the earth into solar or galactic latitude and longitude.
2009 P. Glennie & N. Thrift Shaping Day ix. 354 The marine chronometer made very precise longitudinal positions knowable.
3. Of or relating to length as a dimension; extending in a single dimension; = lineal adj. 1b.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [adjective]
longitudinal1731
1731 J. Tull New Horse-houghing Husbandry 52 A Root has all its Longitudinal Increase at the very End.
1745 W. Harris in tr. J. Ware Wks. conc. Ireland II. xxxiii. 224 The first Principle or Standard of longitudinal Measure is taken from a Barley Corn cleared of the Beard.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 275 Our antient historians inform us, that a new standard of longitudinal measure was ascertained by king Henry the first.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) II. 270 The real depth, or longitudinal extent of the mine.
1818 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 33 182 The number of longitudinal inches of the foot measure.
1913 Valve World 10 218/1 It does not alter the perfection of the meter, as a longitudinal measure, with its decimal multiples and submultiples.
2006 H. Brune et al. Nanotechnol. 5 The project group defines Nanotechnology based on effects and functions independently of any longitudinal measure.
4. Of a scientific study: carried out or extending over a prolonged period of time; involving serial observations or measurements of the same individual, cohort, or experimental group. Also: of or relating to such a study.
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the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > [adjective] > involving study of long period
longitudinal1913
1913 Science 13 June 896/1 The psycho-clinician makes not only a cross-section analysis of the case, but also a longitudinal study of the evolution of the deviation or symptom-complex.
1973 Sci. Amer. Sept. 35/3 Mathematical curves have been fitted with great success to measurements of individuals followed during the adolescent spurt... Such serial studies of individuals are called longitudinal, as opposed to the studies of populations called cross-sectional, in which each child is measured only once.
2008 Appl. Linguistics 29 613 Study after study has conceded that its methodological shortcoming is the lack of a longitudinal perspective.
B. n.
1. Anatomy and Zoology. A longitudinal muscle (in early use, esp. the rectus abdominis) or muscle fibre. Also: (occasionally) a longitudinal ridge or other structure.
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > muscle > muscles of specific parts > [noun] > muscles of abdomen
longitudinal?a1425
latitudinal?1541
pyramidalis1615
rectus abdominis1680
abdominal1854
ab1956
tummy muscle1974
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 15v (MED) Musclez bene made in þe wombe..viz..2 longitudinalez [L. longitudinales] proceding fro þe shyld of þe stomac vnto þe bonez of pecten.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Ijv Of what villes is the stomacke composed. Answere, Of longytudynalles to drawe in & tranuersalles to reteyne, & latitudinalles to put forth.
1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. K.i There is noted eyght Muscles, two Longitudinals, proceeding from the sheelde of the Stomacke vnto Os Pecten: two Latitudinales comming from the backe wardes to the wombe: and foure Tranuerse.
1792 H. Wilkins Orig. Ess. Animal Motion 28 The circulars would be giving back in turn their plus to the longitudinals.
1892 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1891 471 The sculpture consists of narrow longitudinal cords at rather wide intervals... Irregular growth-lines crenulate the longitudinals.
1976 R. A. Satterlie et al. in G. O. Mackie Coelenterate Ecol. & Behavior 621 The circulars appear to act against the hydrostatic pressure of the central canals during rachidial peristalsis and are jointly active with the longitudinals during protective contractions.
2012 P. Ladefoged & S. F. Disner Vowels & Consonants (ed. 3) xii. 128 The muscles that are primarily responsible for moving the tip of the tongue are the superior longitudinals.
2. A railway sleeper lying parallel with the rails it supports. Usually in plural. Now chiefly historical.Such sleepers were introduced on the Great Western Railway by Brunel in 1838, in place of the massive stone blocks placed at intervals that had previously been used; they were supersed in turn by transverse sleepers (ties), running from one rail to the other.
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society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > track > parts and fittings of rails > sleeper
cross-tie1813
sleeper1837
longitudinal1838
transom1838
cross-sleeper1841
railroad tie1847
stringer1848
tie1857
pot sleeper1869
waybeam1880
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 325/2 I had intended, however, recommending the same principle, but in a different form, holding down the longitudinals by small iron rods driven into the chalk.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 244/1 The longitudinals are connected and kept to gauge by transoms or cross-ties at intervals.
1909 E. Tratman Railway Track (ed. 3) iv. 41 This..produced wear of both longitudinal and rail.
2008 House Builders Health & Safety Man. 9-28 (caption) Where ground is not as firm ballast should be packed under longitudinals, cross members and at the ends of sleepers.
3.
a. Shipbuilding and Boatbuilding. A continuous element of the skeleton of a vessel that runs lengthwise, esp. one that is cut from sheet materials such as steel or plywood, rather than being hewn or cast.
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1848 Rep. Select Comm. Navy, Army & Ordnance Estimates: Minutes of Evid. 809 (table) in Parl. Papers 1847–8 (H.C. 555) XXI. ii. 1 Longitudinals, 2 defective.
1883 G. S. Nares Constr. Ironclad 5 Longitudinals are plates of iron, which run fore and aft between the frames, to strengthen the ship lengthways.
1900 Engin. Mag. 19 678 The stiffening angles for longitudinals.
1953 Mariner's Mirror 39 165 The vessel was..constructed on the system of transverse bracket frames and continuous longitudinals.
1969 Boating Dec. 41/2 The 36′ Sedan's bottom is stiffened with four full length waterproof plywood longitudinals that double as engine beds.
2012 D. J. Eyres & G. J. Bruce Ship Constr. (ed. 7) xvi. 183 Each bracket is flanged and will extend to the first longitudinal.
b. Aeronautics. A longeron, esp. one in an airship.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > longitudinal member
keel1888
longitudinal1908
1908 Aeronautics May 39/2 The upper two longitudinals forming the edges of the supporting surfaces, whose form is a lamina of curved section.
1919 Jane's All the World's Aircraft 37a/1 Fuselage longitudinals and struts have sections of I-shape.
1973 D. H. Robinson Giants in Sky ii. 31 The hull was identical with that of the LZ 2, the dimensions, the number of longitudinals and ring frames being identical with those of the ships lost at Kisslegg.
2008 B. K. Donaldson Anal. Aircraft Struct. 221 These members..provide end restraint for the longitudinals to increase their column buckling stress.
Compounds
longitudinal axis n. the long axis of an object or structure (long axis n. at long adj.1 and n.1 Compounds 4a); spec. an axis running the length of a craft or vehicle through its centre of gravity (cf. roll axis n. at roll n.2 Compounds). [Compare post-classical Latin axis longitudinalis (1722 or earlier).]
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > qualities and parameters of aircraft > [noun] > axes of specific moments
rolling axis1731
longitudinal axis1744
pitching axis1920
roll axis1945
pitch axis1952
yawing axis1953
yaw axis1959
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > division or marking of > axis > passing through foci
principal axis1704
transverse axis1704
transverse1743
longitudinal axis1744
focal axis1794
major axis1840
1744 tr. G. van Swieten Comm. Aphorisms Boerhaave I. 82 The humours..do constantly endeavour to lengthen the sides of their canals in the direction of their longitudinal axis [L. secundum axim longitudinis].
1796 R. H. Gower Treat. Theory & Pract. Seamanship (ed. 2) i. 6 A vessel easily inclines round her longitudinal axis.
1840 A. F. B. Creuze Treat. Theory & Pract. Naval Archit. 29/1 If the centres of gravity of these two solids should be situated in the same transverse vertical section, the inclination of the ship will be round her longitudinal axis.
1938 E. G. Richardson Physical Sci. Mod. Life i. 28 The section of an airship hull is fishlike and symmetrical about a longitudinal axis.
1986 J. F. Gracey Meat Hygiene (ed. 8) vii. 144/2 The ordinary bleeding knife severs blood vessels more rapidly if the blade is held at right angles to the direction of the vessels and longitudinal axis of the body.
2013 N.Y. Times 10 Mar. (Sports section) 12/3 The engine's tendency to rock end-to-end along its longitudinal axis as the crankshaft rotates.
longitudinal elevation n. an elevation showing the side of a structure, as distinguished from an end view; a side elevation.
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1808 J. Dickinson Brit. Patent 3056 (1856) 2 A machine which is described in the annexed Drawing, wherein Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal elevation, Fig. 2 a transverse section, Fig. 3 a plan.
1861 A. Beresford-Hope Eng. Cathedral of 19th Cent. 81 I have selected..the longitudinal elevation and the longitudinal and transverse sections..for their intrinsic merit.
2004 N. K. Raju Struct. Design & Drawing (ed. 2) 281 Draw dimensioned sketches showing the longitudinal elevation and cross-section of the girder.
longitudinal system n. †(a) Geometry a spherical coordinate system based on the measurement of angular distance along two great circles which intersect at right angles at the pole (obsolete rare); (b) Botany the vascular system in plants, which conducts water and nutrients, consisting of xylem, phloem, and associated tissues.
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1835 T. S. Davies in Ladies' Diary 61 We may consider the point m defined by the relation between os and or... This system is called the longitudinal system of spherical coordinates, the arcs os and or being measured in the same manner as longitudes on the earth.
1837 Edwards's Bot. Reg. 23 1928 The whole of the horizontal cellular system decays, leaving behind it the longitudinal system in the form of a woody skeleton.
1931 Bot. Gaz. 92 438 Phloem rays, only a few cells in width, may subdivide these regions of the longitudinal system.
2012 D. Pigott Lime-trees & Basswoods iii. 30/1 The secondary xylem of Tilia consists of a normal longitudinal system of water-conducting and mechanical tissues and a radial transverse system of medullary rays.
longitudinal valley n. [after French vallée longitudinale (1779 or earlier)] Physical Geography a valley which runs parallel to a mountain chain; (in later use also) a valley which runs parallel to the strike of the underlying strata (now rare).
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1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature II. 3 The great longitudinal vallies of the Alps.
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXXVI. at Valley Saussure divides valleys into two orders, which he calls longitudinal valleys and transversal valleys... It is between these parallel ranges that longitudinal valleys are situated.
1875 J. W. Powell Explor. Colorado River (Smithsonian Inst.) xi. 160 I have elsewhere classified these valleys..in the following manner: Order first. Transverse valleys, having a direction at right angles to the strike. Order second. Longitudinal valleys, having a direction the same as the strike.
1912 P. MacNair Perthshire (2013) vii. 45 The Isla..bends sharply round to the west near Alyth and flows in a longitudinal valley along the syncline of Strathmore to join the Tay near Cargill.
1990 P. Kearey & F. J. Vine Global Tectonics ix. 181 Above the more steeply dipping plate..a longitudinal valley is developed between the eastern and western Cordilleras which contains the deposits of the Altiplano.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.?a1425