polygon

American  

[pol-ee-gon] / ˈpɒl iˌgɒn /

noun

1. a figure, especially a closed plane figure, having three or more, usually straight, sides.

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polygon British  

/ pəˈlɪɡənəl, ˈpɒlɪˌɡɒn /

noun

1. a closed plane figure bounded by three or more straight sides that meet in pairs in the same number of vertices, and do not intersect other than at these vertices. The sum of the interior angles is ( n –2) × 180° for n sides; the sum of the exterior angles is 360°. A regular polygon has all its sides and angles equal. Specific polygons are named according to the number of sides, such as triangle, pentagon, etc

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polygon Scientific  

/ pŏl′ē-gŏn′ /

1. A closed plane figure having three or more sides. Triangles, rectangles, and octagons are all examples of polygons.

2. ◆ A regular polygon is a polygon all of whose sides are the same length and all of whose interior angles are the same measure.

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polygon Cultural  

1. In geometry, a closed figure having three or more sides and lying on one plane.

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Other Word Forms

• polygonal adjective
• polygonally adverb
• subpolygonal adjective
• subpolygonally adverb

Etymology

Origin of polygon

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin polygōnum, from Greek polýgōnon, noun use of neuter of polýgōnos “many-angled”; poly-, -gon

Example Sentences

We wander back wet, down to Castillo Square, down to the ghosts of Bar Milano, a stand-in for Bar Torino, and Café Suizo, where the fiesta unravels in insults, a love polygon and fisticuffs.

From Salon

A love triangle stretches to encompass more people and form a shifting polygon.

From The Wall Street Journal

County emergency management worker saved an alert correctly with a narrowly defined polygon in the area near the Kenneth fire.

From Los Angeles Times

County officials correctly used the Genasys software to draw a polygon that would alert only residents near the fire, which sparked in West Hills.

From Los Angeles Times

But on rare occasions, designers choose to build their interactive worlds not from pixels and polygons but from physical materials like cardboard and clay.

From New York Times

Related Words

• shape