rectangle
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French, from Medieval Latin or Late Latin rectangulum (“right angle”), from Latin rectus (“right”) + angulus (“an angle”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
rectangle (plural rectangles)
- (geometry) Any quadrilateral having opposing sides parallel and four right angles.
- (nontechnical) Such a quadrilateral that is oblong (longer than it is wide): one that is not regular (equilateral), that is, any except a square.
- (archaic) A right angle.
- 1884, A Square [pseudonym; Edwin A. Abbott], Flatland […] , London: Seeley & Co., Part I: This World, § 12.— Of the Doctrine of our Priests, page 46:
- For why should you praise, for example, the integrity of a Square who faithfully defends the interests of his client, when you ought in reality rather to admire the exact precision of his Rectangles?
- (archaic) The product of two quantities.
- 1728, E[phraim] Chambers, “Product”, in Cyclopædia: Or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; […] In Two Volumes, volumes II (I–Z), London: […] James and John Knapton [et al.], →OCLC, page 886, column 1:
- In Lines it [the product] is always (and ſometimes in Numbers) call'd the Rectangle between the two Lines, multiply'd by one another.
Hyponyms edit
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
quadrilateral
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Adjective edit
rectangle (not comparable)
- (archaic) Right-angled.
- a rectangle triangle
References edit
- “rectangle, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- “rectangle, adj.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
Further reading edit
- “rectangle”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “rectangle”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “rectangle”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Medieval Latin or Late Latin rectangulum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
rectangle m (plural rectangles)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “rectangle” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Medieval Latin or Late Latin rectangulum.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
rectangle m (plural rectangles)
Derived terms edit
Adjective edit
rectangle (plural rectangles)
- (geometry) right-angled (of a geometric figure)
- un triangle rectangle ― a right-angled triangle
- un parallélépipède rectangle ― a rectangular cuboid
- Antonyms: obtusangle, acutangle
Further reading edit
- “rectangle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.