elongation

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: e=lon=ga=tion

CIDE DICTIONARY

elongation, n. [LL. elongatio: cf. F. élongation.].

•  The act of lengthening, or the state of being lengthened; protraction; extension.  Arbuthnot.  [1913 Webster]
•  That which lengthens out; continuation.  [1913 Webster]

  "May not the mountains of Westmoreland and Cumberland be considered as elongations of these two chains?"  [1913 Webster]
•  Removal to a distance; withdrawal; a being at a distance; distance.  [1913 Webster]

  "The distant points in the celestial expanse appear to the eye in so small a degree of elongation from one another, as bears no proportion to what is real."  [1913 Webster]
•  The angular distance of a planet from the sun; as, the elongation of Venus or Mercury.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

elongation, n.
1 the act or an instance of lengthening; the process of being lengthened.
2 a part of a line etc. formed by lengthening.
3 Mech. the amount of extension under stress.
4 Astron. the angular separation of a planet from the sun or of a satellite from a planet.

Etymology

ME f. LL elongatio (as ELONGATE)

ROGET THESAURUS

elongation

Distance

N distance, space, remoteness, farness, far- cry to, longinquity, elongation, offing, background, remote region, removedness, parallax, reach, span, stride, outpost, outskirt, horizon, aphelion, foreign parts, ultima Thule, ne plus ultra, antipodes, long range, giant's stride, dispersion, length, cosmic distance, light-years, distant, far off, far away, remote, telescopic, distal, wide of, stretching to, yon, yonder, ulterior, transmarine, transpontine, transatlantic, transalpine, tramontane, ultramontane, ultramundane, hyperborean, antipodean, inaccessible, out of the way, unapproached, unapproachable, incontiguous, far off, far away, afar, afar off, off, away, a long way off, a great way off, a good way off, wide away, aloof, wide of, clear of, out of the way, out of reach, abroad, yonder, farther, further, beyond, outre mer, over the border, far and wide, over the hills and far away, from pole to pole, to the uttermost parts, to the ends of the earth, out of hearing, nobody knows where, a perte de vue, out of the sphere of, wide of the mark, a far cry to, apart, asunder, wide apart, wide asunder, longo intervallo, at arm's length, distance lends enchantment, it's a long long way to Tipperary, out of sight, out of mind.