long

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "long"

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English long, lang, from Old English long, lang (“long, tall, lasting”), from Proto-West Germanic *lang, 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 a Latin-inherited cognate from the exact same form. Doublet of lungo and lunge.

Other cognates include Russian долго (dolgo) and Sanskrit दीर्घ (dīrgha, “long”).

Adjective[edit]

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

  2. 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.
    How long was your newborn baby?
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
      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[1]:
      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.
  3. Having great duration.
    The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.
  4. 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.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
      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.
  5. (Britain, dialect) 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.
  6. (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.
  7. (cricket) Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).
  8. (tennis, of a ball or a shot) Landing beyond the baseline, and therefore deemed to be out.
    That forehand is long.
  9. (gambling) Of betting odds, offering a very large return for a small wager.
  10. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
Usage notes[edit]
  • 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).
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
  • (having much distance from one point to another): low (vertically upwards), shallow (vertically upwards or downwards), short
  • (having great duration): brief, short
  • (finance): short
Hyponyms[edit]
Hyponyms of long (long duration)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
See long/translations § Adjective.
See also[edit]

Noun[edit]

long (plural longs)

  1. (linguistics) A long vowel.
    • 1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics (volume 2, page 60)
      In French most vowels are half-long, and are only occasionally lengthened or shortened into full longs and shorts.
  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. (finance) A long-term investment.
    • 1977, Jerome B. Cohen, Edward D. Zinbarg, Arthur Zeikel, Guide to Intelligent Investing (page 203)
      Likewise, if borrowers prefer to sell short-maturity issues at the time lenders prefer to invest in longs, as is the case when interest rates are expected to fall, longer maturity issues will tend to yield less than shorter maturity issues.
  7. (UK, colloquial, dated) The long summer vacation at the English universities.
    • 1863, Reade, Charles, Hard Cash:
      " […] Did I not forbid all these nicknames and all this Oxfordish, by proclamation, last Long."
      "Last Long?"
      "Hem! last protracted vacation."

Verb[edit]

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.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English longe, lange, from Old English longe, lange, from the adjective (see above).

Adverb[edit]

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.
    She has known us as long as you
    I haven't long to live.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonby, OCLC 932900760, book VI, canto XII, stanza 17, page 512:
      My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.
    • 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: […] 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.
    • 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.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (over a great distance): a long way, far
  • (for a long duration): a long time
Antonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
See long/translations § Adverb.
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

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”).

Verb[edit]

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

  2. (intransitive) To await, aspire, desire greatly (something to occur or to be true).
    Synonyms: ache, yearn
    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.
Usage notes[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
See long/translations § Verb.

Etymology 4[edit]

From Middle English long, lang, an aphetic form of Middle English ilong, ylong, from Old English ġelong, ġelang (“along, belonging, depending, consequent”); the verb later reinterpreted as an aphetic form of belong.

Adjective[edit]

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.

Verb[edit]

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.

Etymology 5[edit]

Shortening of longitude

Noun[edit]

long (plural longs)

  2. longitude
Coordinate terms[edit]

Etymology 6[edit]

From Middle English longen, from Old English langian (“to belong, pertain”), from Old English *lang, which is of uncertain origin yet related to Old English ġelang (“dependent, attainable, present, belonging, consequent”), Old Saxon gilang (“ready, available”).

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (obsolete) To belong.

References[edit]

  • long at OneLook Dictionary Search
  • “long” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Afrikaans[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

long (plural longe, diminutive longetjie)

  1. lung

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

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

  1. lung

Usage notes[edit]

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

Derived terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Afrikaans: long
  • Negerhollands: longe
  • → Papiamentu: long (dated)

Franco-Provençal[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. long

Derived terms[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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 in the morning 5 cm long

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Haitian Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

French long (“long”).

Adjective[edit]

long

  1. long

Hlai[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Hlai *C-luŋ (“big”), from Pre-Hlai *C-luŋ (Norquest, 2015). Compare Proto-Tai *ʰluəŋᴬ (“big”) (whence Thai หลวง (lǔuang)).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

long

  1. big

Synonyms[edit]

Indonesian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Betawi [Term?], from Hokkien 烺 (lóng, lōng, “bright”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɔŋ]
  • Hyphenation: long

Noun[edit]

long (first-person possessive longku, second-person possessive longmu, third-person possessive longnya)

  1. large firecracker.
    Hypernym: petasan

Alternative forms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Irish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

long f (genitive singular loinge, nominative plural longa)

  1. ship

Declension[edit]

Declension of long

Second declension

Bare forms

Case Singular Plural
Nominative long longa
Vocative a long a longa
Genitive loinge long
Dative long
loing (archaic, dialectal) 		longa

Forms with the definite article

Case Singular Plural
Nominative an long na longa
Genitive na loinge na long
Dative leis an long
leis an loing (archaic, dialectal)

don long
don loing (archaic, dialectal)

leis na longa

Derived terms[edit]

Mandarin[edit]

Romanization[edit]

long

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

Usage notes[edit]

  • 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.

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English lang, from Proto-West Germanic *lang.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /lɔnɡ/, /lɔːnɡ/

Adjective[edit]

long

  1. long

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Norman[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Adjective[edit]

long m

  1. (Jersey) long

Occitan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin longus.

Adjective[edit]

long m (feminine singular longa, masculine plural longs, feminine plural longas)

  1. long

Related terms[edit]

Old English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

long

  1. Alternative form of lang

Declension[edit]

Declension of long — Strong
Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative long long long
Accusative longne longe long
Genitive longes longre longes
Dative longum longre longum
Instrumental longe longre longe
Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative longe longa, longe long
Accusative longe longa, longe long
Genitive longra longra longra
Dative longum longum longum
Instrumental longum longum longum
Declension of long — Weak
Singular Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative longa longe longe
Accusative longan longan longe
Genitive longan longan longan
Dative longan longan longan
Instrumental longan longan longan
Plural Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative longan longan longan
Accusative longan longan longan
Genitive longra, longena longra, longena longra, longena
Dative longum longum longum
Instrumental longum longum longum

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • lonc (early Old French)
  • lunc (Anglo-Norman)

Etymology[edit]

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

Adjective[edit]

long m (oblique and nominative feminine singular longe)

  1. long (length, duration)

Declension[edit]

Declension of long
Number Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular Subject longs longe or longue long
Oblique long longe or longue long
Plural Subject long longes or longues long
Oblique longs longes or longues long

Descendants[edit]

Old Frisian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-West Germanic *lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos. Cognates include Old English lang, Old Saxon lang and Old Dutch *lang.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

long

  1. long

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old Irish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

long f (genitive lungae, nominative plural longa)

  1. boat
  2. ship

Inflection[edit]

Feminine ā-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative longL luingL longaH
Vocative longL luingL longaH
Accusative luingN luingL longaH
Genitive luingeH longL longN
Dative luingL longaib longaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization

Synonyms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

Mutation[edit]

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
long
also llong after a proclitic 		long
pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/ 		unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Pijin[edit]

Preposition[edit]

long

  1. to; toward; into
  2. in; at; near
    • 1988, Geoffrey Miles White, Bikfala faet: olketa Solomon Aelanda rimembarem Wol Wo Tu‎[2], 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)
This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. This language is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Scottish Gaelic[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Irish long.

Noun[edit]

long f (genitive singular luinge, plural longan)

  1. ship

Derived terms[edit]

Tok Pisin[edit]

FWOTD – 12 March 2013

Etymology[edit]

From English along.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /loŋ/, [lɔŋ], [lɔ(ː)]

Preposition[edit]

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, Jenesis 1:15:
      Ol dispela lait i mas kamap long skai bilong givim lait long graun.”
      →New International Version translation
      • 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, Jenesis 1:15:
      Ol dispela lait i mas kamap long skai bilong givim lait long graun.”
      →New International Version translation
      • 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, Jenesis 1:22:
      Na God i mekim gutpela tok bilong givim strong long ol. Em i tokim ol olsem, “Yupela ol kain kain samting bilong solwara, yupela i mas kamap planti na pulapim olgeta hap bilong solwara. Na yupela ol pisin, yupela i mas kamap planti long graun.”
      →New International Version translation
      • 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, Jenesis 2:22:
      Orait God i wokim wanpela meri long dispela bun em i bin kisim long man, na bihain em i bringim meri i go long man.
      →New International Version translation
      • 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, Jenesis 3:14:
      Na God, Bikpela i tokim snek olsem, “Yu bin mekim dispela pasin nogut, olsem na nau mi gat strongpela tok bilong daunim yu. Bai yu gat bikpela hevi. Hevi yu karim bai i winim hevi bilong olgeta arapela animal. Nau na long olgeta taim bihain bai yu wokabaut long bel bilong yu tasol. Na bai yu kaikai das bilong graun.
      →New International Version translation
      • 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, Jenesis 3:17:
      Na God i tokim Adam olsem, “Yu bin harim tok bilong meri bilong yu, na yu bin kaikai pikinini bilong dispela diwai mi bin tambuim yu long kaikai. Olsem na nau bai mi bagarapim graun, na ol kaikai bai i no inap kamap gut long en. Oltaim bai yu wok hat tru bilong mekim kaikai i kamap long graun.
      →New International Version translation
      • 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.

Derived terms[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Compare lung as in lung lay.

Adjective[edit]

long

  1. loose
    răng long ― loose tooth

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

long

  1. (only in compounds) dragon

Welsh[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

long

  1. Soft mutation of llong.

Mutation[edit]

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
llong long unchanged unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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