- latitude
- c.1391, from L. latitudo "breadth, width, extent, size," from latus "wide," from PIE base *stela- "to spread" (cf. O.C.S. steljo "to spread out," Arm. lain "broad"). Geographical sense also is from c.1391, lit. "breadth" of a map of the known world. Meaning "freedom from narrow restrictions" (1605) led to latitudinarian (1662) "characterized by broad-mindedness," esp. in ref. to Episcopal clergymen indifferent to doctrinal details.