frustum

[fruhs-tuhm]

noun

Geometry.

plural

frustums, frusta 

1. the part of a conical solid left after cutting off a top portion with a plane parallel to the base.

2. the part of a solid, as a cone or pyramid, between two usually parallel cutting planes.

frustum

/ ˈfrʌstəm /

noun

1. geometry

   1. the part of a solid, such as a cone or pyramid, contained between the base and a plane parallel to the base that intersects the solid

   2. the part of such a solid contained between two parallel planes intersecting the solid

2. architect a single drum of a column or a single stone used to construct a pier

Word History and Origins

Origin of frustum¹

1650–60; < Latin: piece, bit; probably akin to Old Irish brúid (he) breaks, Old English brȳsan to crush

Word History and Origins

Origin of frustum¹

C17: from Latin: piece; probably related to Old English brӯsan to crush, _bruise

Example Sentences

A scutoid is more complicated than a prismatoid, which is more complicated than a frusta, which is more complicated than a prism.

Read more on Scientific American

However, a better understanding of the mechanics of the shared interfaces on the sides of cells will be needed before cell shapes more complex than prisms and frusta can be modelled accurately in three dimensions6.

Read more on Nature

Biologists had long assumed that these cells acquire the shape of frusta, as in a Roman arch.

Read more on The New Yorker

“The whole building,” says Smeaton, “consisted of a simple figure, being an elegant frustum of a cone, unbroken by any projecting ornaments, or anything whereon the violence of the storm could lay hold.”

Read more on Project Gutenberg

A stick of timber is in the shape of the frustum of a square pyramid, the lower base being 22 in. square and the upper 14 in. square.

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