long

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒŋ/
  • (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːŋ/
• (General American) enPR: lông, IPA^(key): /ˈlɔŋ/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) enPR: läng, IPA^(key): /ˈlɑŋ/

• Audio (UK): [ˈlɒŋ]

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• Audio (US): [ˈlɔŋ]

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɒŋ
• Hyphenation: long

From Middle English long, lang, from Old English longe, long, lang (“long, tall, lasting”), from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”), from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”). Cognate with Scots lang (“long”), North Frisian long, lung (“long”), Saterland Frisian loang (“long”), Norwegian, West Frisian, Dutch and German lang (“long”), Swedish lång (“long”), Icelandic langur (“long”), Galician longo (“long”), Spanish luengo (“long”), Latin longus (“long”), Russian дли́нный (dlínnyj). Not a loan from French long, which is an inherited cognate from the exact same form.

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

1. Having much distance from one terminating point on an object or an area to another terminating point (usually applies to horizontal dimensions; see Usage Notes below).

   It's a long way from the Earth to the Moon.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:

     We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess‎:

     The face which emerged was not reassuring. […]. He was not a mongol but there was a deficiency of a sort there, and it was not made more pretty by a latter-day hair cut which involved eccentrically long elf-locks and oiled black curls.

2. Having great duration.

   The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.

   • 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.

3. Seemingly lasting a lot of time, because it is boring or tedious or tiring.
   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, Chapter 23

     What I suffered with that rein for four long months in my lady's carriage, it would be hard to describe, but I am quite sure that, had it lasted much longer, either my health or my temper would have given way.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:

     I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.

4. (Britain, dialectal) Not short; tall.
   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 731476803:

     The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.

5. (finance) Possessing or owning stocks, bonds, commodities or other financial instruments with the aim of benefiting of the expected rise in their value.

   I'm long in DuPont;  I have a long position in DuPont.

6. (cricket) Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).
7. (tennis, of a ball or a shot) That land beyond the baseline (and therefore is out).

   No! That forehand is long […].

8. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: Printed [by Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 932900760, book IIII, canto IIII, page 55:

     But Campbell thus did ſhut vp all in ieſt, / Braue Knights and Ladies, certes ye doe wrong / To ſtirre vp ſtrife, when moſt vs needeth reſt, / That we may vs reſerue both freſh and ſtrong, / Againſt the Turneiment which is not long.

• Wide is usually used instead of long when referring to a horizontal dimension (left to right).
• Tall or high are usually used instead of long when referring to positive vertical dimension (upwards), and deep when referring to negative vertical dimension (downwards).

• (having much distance from one point to another): deep (vertically downwards), extended, high (vertically upwards), lengthy, tall
• (having great duration): extended, lengthy, prolonged

• (having much distance from one point to another): low (vertically upwards), shallow (vertically upwards or downwards), short
• (having great duration): brief, short
• (finance): short

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

1. Over a great distance in space.

   He threw the ball long.

2. For a particular duration.

   How long is it until the next bus arrives?

   • 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

     Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […] The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

3. For a long duration.

   Will this interview take long?

   Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.

   • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iii], page 156, column 1:

     I ſtay too long ; but here my Father comes : / A double bleſſing is a double grace; / Occaſion ſmiles vpon a ſecond leaue.

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

     The world was awake to the 2nd of May, but Mayfair is not the world, and even the menials of Mayfair lie long abed.

   • 1991, James Melvin Washington, editor, A testament of hope: the essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, page 636:

     I answer by saying that I have worked too long and hard now against segregated public accommodations to end up segregating my moral concern.

• (over a great distance): a long way, far
• (for a long duration): a long time

• (over a great distance): a short distance, a short way
• (for a long duration): an instant, a minute, a moment, a second, a short time, not long

• far
• wide
• broad

long (plural longs)

1. (linguistics) A long vowel.
2. (prosody) A long syllable.
3. (music) A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.
4. (programming) A long integer variable, twice the size of an int, two or four times the size of a short, and half of a long long.

   A long is typically 64 bits in a 32-bit environment.

5. (finance) An entity with a long position in an asset.

   Every uptick made the longs cheer.

6. (Britain, colloquial, dated) The long summer vacation at the English universities.

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

1. (transitive, finance) To take a long position in.
   • 2004, Thomas S. Y. Ho; Sang Bin Lee, Sang-bin Yi, The Oxford Guide to Financial Modeling, page 84:

     The left panel shows the profile of a portfolio consisting of longing a call and shorting a put.

• broad
• wide

From Middle English longen, from Old English langian (“to long for, yearn after, grieve for, be pained, lengthen, grow longer, summon, belong”), from Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), from Proto-Indo-European *lengʷʰ- (“to be easy, be quick, jump, move around, vary”). Cognate with German langen (“to reach, be sufficient”), Swedish langa (“to push, pass by hand”), Icelandic langa (“to want, desire”), Dutch, German verlangen (“to desire, want, long for”).

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

1. (intransitive) To await, aspire, desire greatly (something to occur or to be true)

   She longed for him to come back.

   • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

     The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad.

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

• (desire greatly): ache, yearn

• belong
• forlong
• longing

Aphetic form of Old English gelang; the verb later reinterpreted as an aphetic form of belong.

long (not comparable)

1. (archaic) On account of, because of.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.8, page 224:

     I am of opinion, that in regarde of theſe debauches and lewde actions, fathers may, in ſome ſort, be blamed, and that it is onely long of them.

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

1. (archaic) To be appropriate to, to pertain or belong to.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.3:

     A goodly Armour, and full rich aray, / Which long'd to Angela, the Saxon Queene, / All fretted round with gold, and goodly wel beseene.

   • about 1591, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, IV, 4:

     Tis well, and hold your owne in any case / With such austeritie as longeth to a father.

Shortening of longitude

long (plural longs)

1. longitude

• lat

From Middle Dutch longe, also longen, longene, from Old Dutch *lungan, *lunganna, from Proto-Germanic *lunganjō.

• IPA^(key): /lɔŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɔŋ

• audio

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• Hyphenation: long

long f or m (plural longen, diminutive longetje n)

1. lung

Traditionally feminine in the Netherlands, masculine in Belgium due to masculinisation.

long m (feminine singular longe, masculine plural longs, feminine plural longes)

1. long

• longior

From Old French long, from longe, longue, feminine of lonc, lunc, from Latin longus, from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”). Cognate with English long, origin of German Chaiselongue.

• IPA^(key): /lɔ̃/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔ̃
• Homophone: longs

long (feminine singular longue, masculine plural longs, feminine plural longues)

1. long

   Synonyms: épais, grand, haut, large, profond

   Antonyms: bas, court, étroit, mince

   le nez de pinocchio mesure le matin 5 cm de long - the nose of pinocchio measures the morning 5 cm long

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

From Old Irish long, from Latin (navis) longa (“long (ship)”).

• IPA^(key): /l̪ˠɔŋ/, /l̪ˠuːŋɡ/

long f (genitive singular loinge, nominative plural longa)

1. ship

• bratlong (“flagship”)

long

1. Nonstandard spelling of lōng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of lóng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of lǒng.
4. Nonstandard spelling of lòng.

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

• laong (Guernsey)

From Old French long, a back-formation from longe, longue, the feminine form of Early Old French lonc, from Latin longus.

long m

1. (Jersey) long

long

1. Alternative form of lang

• lonc
• lunc (Anglo-Norman)

Backformation from longe, longue, the feminine form of lonc.

long m (oblique and nominative feminine singular longe)

1. long (length, duration)

Generally assumed to be a Latin loan, from (navis) longa, but Joseph Loth believed it to be from Proto-Celtic; either way, cognate to Welsh llong.

• IPA^(key): /l͈oŋɡ/

long f (genitive lungae, nominative plural longa)

1. boat
2. ship

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• bárc
• cnairr
• laídeng
• scib

• Irish: long
• Manx: lhong
• Scottish Gaelic: long

long

1. to; toward; into
2. in; at; near
   • 1988, Geoffrey Miles White, Bikfala faet: olketa Solomon Aelanda rimembarem Wol Wo Tu‎, page 75:

     Bihaen hemi finisim skul blong hem, hemi go minista long sios long ples blong hem long 'Areo.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

From Old Irish long.

long f (genitive singular luinge, plural longan)

1. ship

From English along.

• IPA^(key): /loŋ/, [lɔŋ], [lɔ(ː)]

long

1. Used to mark spatial direct objects that something is oriented in the manner of, where English would use to, toward, into, or onto
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, 1:15:

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

     • These lights must rise in the sky to cast light toward the ground.
2. Used to mark spatial direct objects that something is oriented in the location of, where English would use in, at, on, or near
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, 1:15:

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

     • These lights must rise in the sky to cast light toward the ground.
3. Used to mark indirect objects, or direct objects of intransitive verbs, where English would use to
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, 1:22:

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

     • And God made a good speech to give strength to them. He said to them: "You varied things of the ocean, you must multiply and fill every part of the sea. And you birds, you must multiply on earth.
4. Used to mark spatial direct objects that something is oriented in the manner opposite of, extracted from, or away from, where English would use from or out of
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, 2:22:

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

     • Then God made a woman out of that bone he had taken from the man, and later he brought the woman to go to the man.
5. Used to mark temporal direct objects in which a condition lasts for a certain duration of time, where English would use for
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, 3:14:

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

     • And the Lord God said to the snake: "You did a bad deed, and so I have a powerful curse for you. You will have a great weight. The wight you carry will exceed that of any all animals. Now, and for all times, you will only walk on your stomach. And you will eat the dirt of the earth.
6. Used to mark a verb whose subject is the direct object of another verb, where English would use to or from
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, 3:17:

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

     • And God said to Adam: "You listened to what your woman said, and you ate a fruit of this tree which I have forbidden you from eating. And so I will now corrupt the earth, and food will not grow well enough. You will work very hard forever to make food grow in the ground.

• long wanem

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lawŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lawŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [lawŋ͡m˧˧]

Compare lung as in lung lay.

long

1. loose

   răng long — loose tooth

Sino-Vietnamese word from 龍 (“dragon”).

long

1. (only in compounds) dragon

• IPA^(key): /lɔŋ/

long

1. Soft mutation of llong.