Platonic solid

American

noun

Geometry.

one of the five regular polyhedrons: tetrahedron, octahedron, hexahedron, icosahedron, or dodecahedron.

Platonic solid British

noun

Also called (esp formerly): Platonic body. any of the five possible regular polyhedra: cube, tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron, and dodecahedron

"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

Etymology

Origin of Platonic solid

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A dodecahedron is a Platonic solid with a surface that consists of 12 pentagons, each of equal area.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

An icosahedron is a Platonic solid with a surface that consists of 20 equilateral triangles.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

In this variety of texture and profile, which runs from Platonic solid to inchoate lump, her formal system seems to suggest the layers of definition from which memory itself is composed.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023