polyhedron

American  

[pol-ee-hee-druhn] / ˌpɒl iˈhi drən /

noun

plural

polyhedrons, polyhedra

1. a solid figure having many faces.

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polyhedron British  

/ ˌpɒlɪˈhiːdrən /

noun

1. a solid figure consisting of four or more plane faces (all polygons), pairs of which meet along an edge, three or more edges meeting at a vertex. In a regular polyhedron all the faces are identical regular polygons making equal angles with each other. Specific polyhedrons are named according to the number of faces, such as tetrahedron, icosahedron, etc

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polyhedron Scientific  

/ pŏl′ē-hē′drən /

plural

polyhedrons

1. A three-dimensional geometric figure whose sides are polygons. A tetrahedron, for example, is a polyhedron having four triangular sides.

2. ◆ A regular polyhedron is a polyhedron whose faces are all congruent regular polygons. The regular tetrahedron (pyramid), hexahedron (cube), octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron are the five regular polyhedrons. Regular polyhedrons are a type of Archimedean solid.

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Other Word Forms

• polyhedral adjective

Etymology

Origin of polyhedron

1560–70; < Greek polýedron, neuter of polýedros having many bases. See poly-, -hedron

Example Sentences

The most popular was an image of Fuller’s Dymaxion Map, which depicts the surface of the earth as an unfolded polyhedron.

From Slate • Dec. 26, 2022

Little do they know that the Johnson family has been searching for one polyhedron that went missing at birth.

From Scientific American • Mar. 31, 2018

These will be installed, recreating Morris’s exhibition of painted plywood polyhedron forms at New York’s Green Gallery in 1964.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2016

In 2004, Roger von Oech, who had been writing and consulting on workplace creativity since the ’70s, developed a puzzle that was a 30-sided polyhedron assembled from 30 tiny magnetic pyramids.

From New York Times • Feb. 4, 2015

The human polyhedron has as many facets as a curiously-cut gem, and Vincent Farley's gift lay in the ability always to present the same side to the same person.

From The Quickening by Ashe, E. M.