longitudinal
adjective
lon·gi·tu·di·nal
ˌlän-jə-ˈtüd-nəl 
-ˈtyüd-,
-ˈt(y)ü-dᵊn-əl,
British also ˌläŋ-gə-
1
: placed or running lengthwise
The insect's back is black with yellow longitudinal stripes.
2
: of or relating to length or the lengthwise dimension
the longitudinal extent of the building
3
: involving the repeated observation or examination of a set of subjects over time with respect to one or more study variables
a longitudinal study of juvenile offenders over a period of five years
longitudinally
adverb
Examples of longitudinal in a Sentence
The insect's body is black with yellow longitudinal stripes.
calculating the longitudinal position of a ship
a longitudinal study of career aspirations among girls from 5 to 17
Recent Examples on the Web
In the 2024 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, researchers conducted a six-month longitudinal study—surveying over 1,000 U.S. citizens from across the political spectrum.
—
Mark Travers, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024
This longitudinal data will be especially important for understanding how climate change is affecting drinking water services.
—Celia Ford, Vox, 15 Aug. 2024
The longitudinal study out of Singapore tracked nearly 14,000 participants for over 20 years.
—Sarah Garone, Health, 10 Aug. 2024
The annual study updates the organization’s longitudinal analysis of top-grossing movies, and now covers the 1,700 top films from 2007 to 2023, and provides a specific look at the 100 top movies of 2023.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for longitudinal 
Mark Travers, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024
This longitudinal data will be especially important for understanding how climate change is affecting drinking water services.
—Celia Ford, Vox, 15 Aug. 2024
The longitudinal study out of Singapore tracked nearly 14,000 participants for over 20 years.
—Sarah Garone, Health, 10 Aug. 2024
The annual study updates the organization’s longitudinal analysis of top-grossing movies, and now covers the 1,700 top films from 2007 to 2023, and provides a specific look at the 100 top movies of 2023.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for longitudinal
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'longitudinal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near longitudinal
Cite this Entry
“Longitudinal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/longitudinal. Accessed 19 Sep. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
longitudinal
adjective
lon·gi·tu·di·nal
ˌlän-jə-ˈt(y)üd-nəl
-ᵊn-əl
1
: of or relating to length
2
: placed or running lengthwise
longitudinally
adverb
-ē
Medical Definition
longitudinal
adjective
lon·gi·tu·di·nal
ˌlän-jə-ˈt(y)üd-ᵊn-əl, -nəl, British also ˌläŋ-gə-ˈtyüd-
1
: of, relating to, or occurring in the lengthwise dimension
a longitudinal bone fracture
2
: extending along or relating to the anteroposterior axis of a body or part
a trypanosome which reproduces by longitudinal fission
3
: involving the repeated observation or examination of a set of subjects over time with respect to one or more study variables (as general health, the state of a disease, or mortality)
a longitudinal study of heart transplant recipients over a five-year period
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share