elongation

American  

[ih-lawng-gey-shuhn, ih-long-, ee-lawng-, ee-long-] / ɪ lɔŋˈgeɪ ʃən, ɪ lɒŋ-, ˌi lɔŋ-, ˌi lɒŋ- /

noun

1. the act of elongating or the state of being elongated.

2. something that is elongated.

3. Astronomy. the angular distance, measured from the earth, between a planet or the moon and the sun or between a satellite and the planet about which it revolves.

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elongation British  

/ ˌiːlɒŋˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of elongating or state of being elongated; lengthening

2. something that is elongated

3. astronomy the difference between the celestial longitude of the sun and that of a planet or the moon

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elongation Scientific  

/ ĭ-lông′gā′shən /

1. The angular distance between two celestial bodies as seen from a third. Elongation is normally conceived as a measure of the angle formed between the Sun and a celestial body, such as a planet or the Moon, with Earth at the vertex. In terms of the celestial sphere, elongation is the distance between the Sun and the body as measured in degrees of celestial longitude. When the body lies on a direct line drawn from Earth to or through the Sun, its elongation is 0° and it is said to be in conjunction. It is said to be in quadrature when it lies at a right angle to a line between the Earth and Sun with an elongation of 90°, and it is in opposition when it lies on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun with an elongation of 180°. Superior planets (those that are farther from the Sun than Earth) have a full range of elongations between 0° and 180°. Inferior planets (those closer to the Sun than Earth) have limited elongations due to their smaller orbits; Venus has a greatest elongation of about 48°, while Mercury's greatest elongation is about 28°.

2. See more at conjunction opposition

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonelongation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of elongation

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin ēlongātiōn- (stem of ēlongātiō ), equivalent to ēlongāt ( us ) ( see elongate) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Elongation of both the lagging and the leading strand continues.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Elongation proceeds with charged tRNAs entering the A site and then shifting to the P site followed by the E site with each single-codon “step” of the ribosome.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Elongation occurs, followed by the formation of the transcription initiation complex and the disconnection of the mRNA strand from DNA.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Elongation synthesizes mRNA in the 5' to 3' direction at a rate of 40 nucleotides per second.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Elongation of the thalamus, placenta, &c.—In some plants, as in Magnolia or Myosurus, the thalamus becomes much elongated, and bears the carpels disposed spirally around it.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.