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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

length.

The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/lɛŋ(k)θ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/lɛn(t)θ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/leŋ(k)θ/Australia, New-Zealand/len(t)θ/Australia, New-Zealand

  1. The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

    countable · uncountable

  2. Duration.

    countable · uncountable

  3. The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.

    countable · uncountable
    five lengths ahead of the field

  4. Distance between the two ends of a line segment.

    countable · uncountable

  5. The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.

    countable · uncountable

  6. Total extent.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
    the length of a book

  7. Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.

    countable · uncountable
    a length of rope
    a length of hair

  8. A penis.

    countable · slang · uncountable

  9. A unit of script length, comprising 42 lines.

    countable · uncountable

  10. The number of cards held in a particular suit.

    countable · uncountable

  11. The amount of time for which the taste of wine lingers on the palate after swallowing or spitting it out, measured in caudilies.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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

verb/lɛŋ(k)θ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/lɛn(t)θ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/leŋ(k)θ/Australia, New-Zealand/len(t)θ/Australia, New-Zealand

  1. To lengthen.

    obsolete
    Pack night, peep day; good day, of night now borrow: / Short night, to-night, and length thyself to-morrow.
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.