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

Even Janine’s screen matched the correct Imax aspect ratio: 1.43:1.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026

By measuring the aspect ratio -- the ratio of length to width -- they found that the anemone returned to its pre-injury proportions.

From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2024

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

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

For a given velocity and a given area of surface, the higher the aspect ratio, the greater the reaction.

From The Aeroplane Speaks Fifth Edition by Barber, H. (Horatio)