different between height vs altitude

English

Alternative forms

• highth (obsolete)
• heighth (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English heighte, hei?þe, from Old English h?ahþu, h?hþo, h?ehþo (“height”), Proto-West Germanic *hauhiþu, from Proto-Germanic *hauhiþ? (compare *hauhaz). Corresponds to high +? -th.

Pronunciation

• enPR: h?t, IPA^(key): /ha?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophone: hight
• Hyphenation: height

Noun

height (countable and uncountable, plural heights)

1. The distance from the base of something to the top.
2. (phonetics) A quality of vowels, indicating the vertical position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth; in practice, the first formant, associated with the height of the tongue.

   Coordinate terms: (horizontal dimension) backness, (lip articulation) roundedness, length, nasalization, reduction

3. The vertical distance from the ground to the highest part of a standing person or animal (withers in the case of a horse).
4. The highest point or maximum degree.
   • 2004, Peter Bondanella, Hollywood Italians: Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos, chapter 4, 173–174:

     During the height of Italian immigration in the United States and in New York City, gangs flourished not only because of poverty but also because of political and social corruption. Policemen and politicians were often as crooked as the gang leaders themselves.

5. A high point.
   1. A mountain, especially a very high one.
6. (Sussex) An area of land at the top of a cliff.
7. (mathematics) The amplitude of a sine function

Synonyms

• (highest point): See also Thesaurus:apex

Antonyms

• (distance from bottom to top): depth

Derived terms

Related terms

• high

Translations

Further reading

• height on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Highet, eighth, highte

English

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin altit?d? (“height”), from altus (“high”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ælt.??tju?d/, /?ælt.??t??u?d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ælt.??tu?d/

Noun

altitude (countable and uncountable, plural altitudes)

1. The absolute height of a location, usually measured from sea level.

2. A vertical distance.
3. (geometry) The distance measured perpendicularly from a figure's vertex to the opposite side of the vertex.

4. (astronomy) The angular distance of a heavenly body above our Earth's horizon.
5. Height of rank or excellence; superiority.

   • Whoever has an ambition to be heard in a crowd, must press, and squeeze, and thrust, and climb, with indefatigable pains, till he has exalted himself to a certain degree of altitude above them.

6. (dated, in the plural) Elevation of spirits; heroics; haughty airs.
7. Highest point or degree.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• altitude in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• altitude in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• latitude

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin altit?d?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.ti.tyd/

Noun

altitude f (plural altitudes)

1. altitude

Related terms

• haut

Further reading

• “altitude” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin altit?d?.

Noun

altitude f (plural altitudes)

1. altitude

Related terms

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin altit?d?.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /a?.ti.?tu.ð?/
• Hyphenation: al?ti?tu?de
• Rhymes: -ud?i

Noun

altitude f (plural altitudes)

1. altitude

Related terms