*latitude*

n. (Meteorology) The latitudes from 30° to 35 ° north or south of the equator. They are subtropical latitudes having atmospheric high-pressure belts that encircle the Earth, where winds are light and weather is usually clear, hot and dry. According to legend, ships traveling to the New World often stagnated in this region and had to throw dead horses overboard to conserve water for the crew, or eat them to survive, hence the name horse latitudes. A horse latitude is created because warm, wet air near the equator rises, cools, and drops its moisture in heavy rains (creating tropical rainforest areas near the equator). By the time the air reaches the high altitudes, it is cold and dry and can not rise further, so it spreads out and moves toward the poles and near the 30° north and 30° south, it begins to sink toward the earth's surface., preventing moisture from reaching the area from elsewhere. The regions mark the normal locations of the global subtropical high pressure systems such as the Bermuda High, moving a few degrees north or south of their position as the sun moves in the sky with the seasons. Many of the worlds deserts are found at these latitudes. University of Michigan Eco-Explorers, 2001 [ PJC ]

n. [ F. latitude, L. latitudo, fr. latus broad, wide, for older stlatus; perh. akin to E. strew. ] 1. Extent from side to side, or distance sidewise from a given point or line; breadth; width. [ 1913 Webster ]

Provided the length do not exceed the latitude above one third part. Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Room; space; freedom from confinement or restraint; hence, looseness; laxity; independence. [ 1913 Webster ]

In human actions there are no degrees and precise natural limits described, but a latitude is indulged. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Extent or breadth of signification, application, etc.; extent of deviation from a standard, as truth, style, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

No discreet man will believe Augustine's miracles, in the latitude of monkish relations. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Extent; size; amplitude; scope. [ 1913 Webster ]

I pretend not to treat of them in their full latitude. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Geog.) Distance north or south of the equator, measured on a meridian. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Astron.) The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ascending latitude,
Circle of latitude,
Geographical latitude, etc. See under Ascending. Circle, etc. --
High latitude, that part of the earth's surface near either pole, esp. that part within either the arctic or the antarctic circle. --
Low latitude, that part of the earth's surface which is near the equator. [ 1913 Webster ]