aspect ratio
Americannoun
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Aeronautics. the ratio of the span of an airfoil to its mean chord.
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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.
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Naval Architecture. the ratio of the height of a rudder to its fore-and-aft length.
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Rocketry.
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Also called fineness ratio. Also called slenderness ratio. the ratio of the mean diameter of the body of a rocket or missile to its length.
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the ratio of the length of the combustion chamber of a rocket motor to its diameter.
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noun
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the ratio of width to height of the picture on a television or cinema screen
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aeronautics the ratio of the span of a wing to its mean chord
Etymology
Origin of aspect ratio
First recorded in 1905–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Measuring 4.5 millimetres thick when unfolded, it features a 7.6-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio screen optimised for video viewing.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Ahead of “Sinners’” release, Coogler encouraged audiences to see the film in its intended format, on Imax 70mm screens in 1.43:1 aspect ratio.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2025
A wide aspect ratio and long lenses create emptiness around Monk, and then as scenes progress, the camera moves to “pan in all the chaos happening around him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
"We found a way to synthesize low defect density, high quality, single phase cubic gallium nitride by using an aspect ratio phase trapping technique that the Bayram group has invented," explains Lee.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 23, 2024
The albatross, nevertheless, the king of soaring birds, has enormously long and narrow wings; and the planes of some flying machines have an aspect ratio almost as high as the slats of a Venetian blind.
From The War in the Air; Vol. 1 The Part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force by Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
