quadrature of the circle

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. the insoluble problem of constructing, by the methods of Euclidean geometry, a square equal in area to a given circle.

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Etymology

Origin of quadrature of the circle

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quadrature of the circle

Profound philosophers have sometimes got very near to the discovery of the quadrature of the circle, perpetual motion, the transmutation of metals, the elixir of life, the crystallisation of carbon, the longitude.

From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

And, were it lost, the quadrature of the circle would not be more difficult than its restoration.

From The Truth About Tristrem Varick A Novel by Edgar Saltus

Letter from Alexandria on the evidence of the practical application of the quadrature of the circle in the great pyramids of Gizeh.

From A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I by David Eugene Smith

Rectification and quadrature of the circle have thus been, since the time of Archimedes at least, practically identical problems.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various

He also wrote a work on the quadrature of the circle, Histoire des recherches sur la Quadrature du Cercle, which appeared in 1754.

From A Budget of Paradoxes, Volume I by David Eugene Smith