length

Meanings

Noun

• The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.
• Duration.
• The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.
• Distance between the two ends of a line segment.
• The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.
• Total extent.
• Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.
• A unit of script length, comprising 42 lines.

Verb

• To lengthen.

Origin

• From Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengþu ("longness; length"), from Proto-West Germanic *langiþu, from Proto-Germanic *langiþō, equivalent to long + -th. Cognate with Scots lenth, lainth, Saterland Frisian Loangte ("length"), West Frisian lingte, langte, Dutch lengte ("length"), German Low German Längde, Längd, Längte, Längt, Danish længde ("length"), Swedish längd ("length"), Icelandic lengd ("length").