altitude

B2 Topic:Aviation & Flight

US /ˈælt.ɪˌtjuːd/ See IPA manual

Freq #8592

Meanings

1

noun
The height of something above sea level or the ground.

As the altitude increases, the air gets colder, so bring warm clothes to the mountains.
2

noun
In geometry, a line drawn from a corner of a shape straight down to the opposite side, or its length.

All three altitudes of a triangle meet at a single point.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the height of something... height elevation

Word family

Forms altitudes

Derived forms altazimuthaltimetryaltitude-sickaltitudinalaltitudinousbialtitudecoaltitudehigh-altitudelow-altitudemaltitudemedium-altitudemidaltitude

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

altitude sickness
illness associated with the reduced oxygen available at high elevations

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Altitude comes from Latin altitudo, derived from altus, meaning “high.”

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin altitūdō (“height”), from altus (“high”).

*h₂el- (grow) Proto-Indo-European altitūdō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Aviation & Flight General Vocabulary

External links

# altitude

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈælt.ɪˌtjuːd/
**Frequency rank:** 8592

## Meanings
1. The height of something above sea level or the ground.
2. In geometry, a line drawn from a corner of a shape straight down to the opposite side, or its length.

## Examples
- As the altitude increases, the air gets colder, so bring warm clothes to the mountains.
- All three altitudes of a triangle meet at a single point.

## Derived Forms
- altazimuth
- altimetry
- altitude-sick
- altitudinal
- altitudinous
- bialtitude
- coaltitude
- high-altitude
- low-altitude
- maltitude
- medium-altitude
- midaltitude

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂el- (grow)
- Root: altitūdō
- Affix: -tude - state

## Etymology
From Middle English, borrowed from Latin altitūdō (“height”), from altus (“high”).

## AI Etymology
Altitude comes from Middle English, borrowed from Latin altitūdō (“height”), from altus (“high”). The historical line also includes Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (grow).

## Topics
- Aviation & Flight
- General Vocabulary

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