duplication of the cube

American  

noun

Geometry.

1. the insoluble problem of constructing a cube having twice the volume of a given cube, using only a ruler and compass.

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Etymology

Origin of duplication of the cube

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

Next year, having solved, as he thought, another ancient crux, the duplication of the cube, he had his solution brought out anonymously at Paris in French, so as to put Wallis and other critics off the scent and extort a judgment that might be withheld from a work of his.

From Project Gutenberg

It became known as the “Delian problem” or the “problem of the duplication of the cube,” and ranks in historical importance with the problems of “trisecting an angle” and “squaring the circle.”

From Project Gutenberg

Dū′plicature, a doubling: anything doubled: the fold of a membrane; Duplic′ity, doubleness: insincerity of heart or speech: deceit; Dū′ply, a second reply in Scots law.—The duplication of the cube was a problem eagerly discussed by the early Greek geometers.

From Project Gutenberg

And so also was the duplication of the cube.

From Project Gutenberg

The altar of Apollo, at Athens, was a square block, or cube, and to double it, required the duplication of the cube.

From Project Gutenberg