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

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

Filming in a constricting boxy aspect ratio, the Ukrainian director takes us inside a corroding prison filled with men unjustly incarcerated as enemies of the state.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

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

In aspect ratio phase trapping, defects, as well as the undesirable hexagonal phase, are "trapped" inside the grooves so that the surface of the active layer is a perfect cubic-phase material.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 23, 2024

The aspect ratio of the planes was six to one, instead of about three to one, as in their second glider.

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