aspect ratio

American  

[as-pekt rey-shoh, rey--shee-oh] / ˈæs pɛkt ˌreɪ ʃoʊ, ˌreɪ ˌʃi oʊ /

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.  Also called slenderness 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.

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aspect ratio British  

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

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Etymology

Origin of aspect ratio

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aspect ratio

Despite this large size, the layer maintained a thickness of just 40 nanometers, giving it an extreme aspect ratio.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 5, 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

The UHD presentation, in a so welcomed screen-filling aspect ratio, brings to light a world saturated with color and lifelike textures as seen often by the element-controlled characters.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023

He showed that embedded Möbius strips made out of paper can only be constructed with an aspect ratio greater than √3, which is about 1.73.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 12, 2023

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 Raleigh, Walter Alexander, Sir