Lāt'i-tūde, n.

noun

(53), n. [Fr. latitude, Pr. latitut, Sp. latitud, Pg. latitude, It. latitudine, Lat. latitudo, from latus, broad, wide.]

Extent from side to side, or distance sidewise from a given point or line; breadth; width. “Provided the length do not exceed the latitude.” Wotton.
Room; space; freedom from confinement or restraint; hence, looseness; laxity; independence.

In human actions there are no degrees and precise natural limits described, but a latitude is indulged. Bp. Taylor. 3. Extent or breadth of signification, application, &c.; extent of deviation from a standard, as truth, style, and the like. No discreet man will believe Augustine’s miracles, in the latitude of monkish relations. Fuller. 4. Extent; size; amplitude; scope. I pretend not to treat of them in their full latitude. Locke.

(Astron.) The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic.
(Geog.) The distance of any place on the globe, north or south of the equator.