Definition of "latitude" []

• The angular distance north or south of the earth's equator, measured in degrees along a meridian, as on a map or globe. (noun)
• A region of the earth considered in relation to its distance from the equator: temperate latitudes. (noun)
• Astronomy The angular distance of a celestial body north or south of the ecliptic. (noun)
• Freedom from normal restraints, limitations, or regulations. See Synonyms at room. (noun)
• A range of values or conditions, especially the range of exposures over which a photographic film yields usable images. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The impartial balance means the Crittenden Compromise, whose impartiality the North fails to see in any other light than a fond leaning to the South, giving it all territory South of a certain latitude, a _latitude_ that never was intended by the Constitution."
• "Their only latitude is the ability to use advertising to neutrally encourage voting."
• "If you live in, oh, say, Wisconsin, there are laws forbidding you from using a centerfire rifle for deer or etc. below a certain latitude (a certain east west highway, in fact)."