Meaning & use

longitudinal

adjective·Advanced

Relating to length or to a study that follows the same subjects over a long period of time.

See it in a sentence

A longitudinal study tracked the students' reading skills over ten years.

Engineers checked the beam for longitudinal cracks along its full length.

A note on using this word

In research, 'longitudinal' contrasts with 'cross-sectional,' which studies different subjects at a single point in time.

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