Altitude

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈælt.ɪˌtjuːd/

Definitions

1. The vertical distance of an object or point above a reference level, typically sea level or ground level
2. The measurement of how high an object is located above a specific reference point, usually sea level, impacting climate and navigation
3. The height of an object or location measured from a defined baseline such as sea level, affecting atmospheric pressure and weather patterns

Etymology: Before "altitude" meant how high something stands, the Latin "altitūdō" simply meant "height" in the most physical sense, and the word came into English during the Middle English period. It descends from "altus," meaning "high" or "deep," a Latin adjective with a curious double life: the same root could describe a towering mountain or a bottomless ocean, depending on the context. English kept the high-end sense for its own vocabulary, so the ocean-depth meaning of the root never made it across. The word stayed close to its literal roots for centuries, measuring things rising above the ground or the sea. Only later did it come to be tied so firmly to the specific idea of height above sea level that a pilot or a hiker now hears it as a precise measurement rather than a general description of being tall.

Synonyms: height, elevation

Antonyms: depth, lowland