aspect ratio

[ as-pekt rey-shoh, rey--shee-oh ]

noun

1. Aeronautics. the ratio of the span of an airfoil to its mean chord.
2. Digital Technology, Television. the ratio of the width of an image to its height, usually a standard ratio such as 16 to 9 or 4 to 3.
3. Naval Architecture. the ratio of the height of a rudder to its fore-and-aft length.
4. Rocketry.
   1. Also called fineness ratio, the ratio of the mean diameter of the body of a rocket or missile to its length.
   2. the ratio of the length of the combustion chamber of a rocket motor to its diameter.

aspect ratio

noun

1. the ratio of width to height of the picture on a television or cinema screen
2. aeronautics the ratio of the span of a wing to its mean chord

Word History and Origins

Origin of aspect ratio¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

An aspect ratio of 10:1 or even 12:1 should be used if possible.

From Project Gutenberg

Now the higher the aspect ratio the greater should be the efficiency.

From Project Gutenberg

This was intended to give increased strength and permitted of a greater wing-spread and consequently improved aspect ratio.

From Project Gutenberg

This, however, appears to be a rather inadequate reason for the high aspect ratio producing the high lift-drift ratio.

From Project Gutenberg

It is this very question of aspect ratio which has given us the monoplane, the biplane, and the triplane.

From Project Gutenberg