\E`lon*ga"tion\ (?; 277), n. [LL. elongatio: cf. F.
['e]longation.]
1. The act of lengthening, or the state of being lengthened;
   protraction; extension. ``Elongation of the fibers.''
   --Arbuthnot.

2. That which lengthens out; continuation.

         May not the mountains of Westmoreland and Cumberland
         be considered as elongations of these two chains?
                                               --Pinkerton.

3. Removal to a distance; withdrawal; a being at a distance;
   distance.

         The distant points in the celestial expanse appear
         to the eye in so small a degree of elongation from
         one another, as bears no proportion to what is real.
                                               --Glanvill.

4. (Astron.) The angular distance of a planet from the sun;
   as, the elongation of Venus or Mercury.