perpendicular

[pur-puhn-dik-yuh-ler]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR perpendicular ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

vertical; straight up and down; upright.

Geometry. meeting a given line or surface at right angles.

maintaining a standing or upright position; standing up.

having a sharp pitch or slope; steep.

(initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to the last style of English Gothic architecture, prevailing from the late 14th through the early 16th century and characterized by the use of predominantly vertical tracery, an overall linear, shallow effect, and fine intricate stonework.

noun

a perpendicular line or plane.

an instrument for indicating the vertical line from any point.

an upright position.

a sharply pitched or precipitously steep mountain face.

moral virtue or uprightness; rectitude.

Nautical. either of two lines perpendicular to the keel line, base line, or designed water line of a vessel.

Origin of perpendicular

1350–1400; < Latin perpendiculāris vertical, equivalent to perpendicul(um) plumb line (see perpend², -i-, -cule²) + -āris -ar¹; replacing Middle English perpendiculer(e) (adj. and adv.) < Old French perpendiculiere

Related formsper·pen·dic·u·lar·i·ty, per·pen·dic·u·lar·ness, nounper·pen·dic·u·lar·ly, adverbnon·per·pen·dic·u·lar, adjective, nounnon·per·pen·dic·u·lar·ly, adverbnon·per·pen·dic·u·lar·i·ty, nounun·per·pen·dic·u·lar, adjectiveun·per·pen·dic·u·lar·ly, adverb

Synonyms for perpendicular

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR perpendicular ON THESAURUS.COM

1. standing. See upright.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for perpendicularity

virtue, integrity, honor, honesty, verticality

Examples from the Web for perpendicularity

Historical Examples of perpendicularity

This perpendicularity we demand of all the figures in this picture of life.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The sense of perpendicularity, however, should constantly be cultivated.
Handwork in Wood
William Noyes
Your argument about the perpendicularity of the dike strikes me as good.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II
Charles Darwin
Parallell-equality is derived from perpendicularity, and is of neere affinity to it.
The Way To Geometry
Peter Ramus
Perpendicularity was in the former attributed to lines considered in a surface.
The Way To Geometry
Peter Ramus

British Dictionary definitions for perpendicularity

perpendicular

adjective

Also: normal at right angles to a horizontal plane

denoting, relating to, or having the style of Gothic architecture used in England during the 14th and 15th centuries, characterized by tracery having vertical lines, a four-centred arch, and fan vaulting

upright; vertical

noun

geometry a line or plane perpendicular to another

any instrument used for indicating the vertical line through a given point

mountaineering a nearly vertical face

Derived Formsperpendicularity (ˌpɜːpənˌdɪkjʊˈlærɪtɪ), nounperpendicularly, adverb

Word Origin for perpendicular

C14: from Latin perpendiculāris, from perpendiculum a plumb line, from per- through + pendēre to hang

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for perpendicularity

perpendicular

adj.

late 15c., from adverb (late 14c.), from Old French perpendiculer, from Latin perpendicularis "vertical, as a plumb line," from perpendiculum "plumb line," from perpendere "balance carefully," from per- "thoroughly" (see per) + pendere "to weigh, to hang" (see pendant). As a noun from 1570s. Related: Perpendicularly; perpendicularity.

perpendicularity in Science

perpendicular

[pûr′pən-dĭk′yə-lər]

Adjective

Intersecting at or forming a right angle or right angles.

Noun

A line or plane that is perpendicular to a given line or plane.