quadrilateral

American  

[kwod-ruh-lat-er-uhl] / ˌkwɒd rəˈlæt ər əl /

adjective

1. having four sides.

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noun

quadrilaterals plural

1. a plane figure having four sides and four angles.

2. something of this form.

3. Geometry.

   1. a figure formed by four straight lines that have six points of intersection.

   2. a polygon with four sides.

4. the space enclosed between and defended by four fortresses.

quadrilateral British  

/ ˌkwɒdrɪˈlætərəl /

adjective

1. having or formed by four sides

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noun

1. Also called: tetragon.  a polygon having four sides. A complete quadrilateral consists of four lines and their six points of intersection

quadrilateral Scientific  

/ kwŏd′rə-lăt′ər-əl /

1. A polygon that has four sides, such as a rectangle or rhombus.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• quadrilateralness
  noun
• quadrilaterally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• quadrilaterals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of quadrilateral

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin quadrilater(us) “four-sided” + -al ¹; equivalent to quadri- + lateral

Explanation

A quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon, like a square, rectangle, or rhombus. The computer screen you are looking at right now is probably in the shape of a quadrilateral. The quadrilateral is a shape you'll learn about in geometry. Quadrilaterals include more than one type of shape, but all quadrilaterals have four sides. The most common type of quadrilateral is the square, but rectangles and rhombuses are quadrilaterals too. Quadrilaterals are also called quadrangles and tetragons. When you see the word quadrilateral, think "four sides".

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quadrilateral quadrilaterals

The researchers showed that the chip can be used to perform what is known as positive real matrix computation, verifying the feasibility of this in a quadrilateral MZI network for the first time.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2023

Oh, and I do have one final question: Doesn’t the Christian quadrilateral protect us from the false dichotomies you imply?

From Washington Times ● Jun. 20, 2023

China's East China Sea exercises coincide with a quadrilateral naval exercise in the Philippine Sea that started on Friday involving the United States, Japan, Canada and France.

From Reuters ● Jun. 13, 2023

With a few exceptions, “The Octopus Museum” consists of prose poems — not Shaughnessy’s usual mode, and not the quadrilateral blocks we usually picture when we hear the words “prose poem.”

From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2019

“But,” 1 said, “in the old days the Austrians were always whipped in the quadrilateral around Verona. They let them come down onto the plain and whipped them there.”

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

There are yet more triangles and quadrilaterals of affection, not always clearly mapped in Bradshaw’s vigorous trimming of the text.

From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2023

Note this is a characteristic of rectangles, but not other quadrilaterals.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021

I showed that for certain shapes—for kites, which are quadrilaterals with bilateral symmetry—you can escape.

From Scientific American ● Jan. 17, 2018

Even when considering the Suprematist works, the Americans have typically isolated the most austere examples — the black-and-white squares, as opposed to the more colorful arrangements of floating, irregular quadrilaterals at Gagosian.

From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2011

Rectilinear figures cannot be divided into triangles and quadrilaterals because there are rectilinear figures which have more than four sides.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various