rectangle
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of rectangle
1565–75; < Medieval Latin rēctangulum, Late Latin rēctiangulum right-angled triangle (noun use of neuter of rēctiangulus having a right angle), equivalent to rēcti- recti- + angulum angle 1
Explanation
A rectangle is any shape with four sides and four right angles. All squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares (all the sides in a square have to be the same length). The rect in rectangle comes from the Latin rectus, which means "right" or "straight." Because of its right angles, a rectangle has straight sides. Another word with the same root is rectitude, which means moral uprightness. A morally upright person is someone who does the right thing, but doing the right thing doesn't make you a square — or a rectangle.
Vocabulary lists containing rectangle
Geometry - Introductory
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The ACT Math Test: Geometry, List 2
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Geometry - Middle School
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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.
When will a small flat rectangle of electronics stop being the preferred form factor for the computers 5.8 billion humans carry around with them?
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Carrots and papaya plants have already pushed up through a rectangle of dark soil, thanks to a technique based on organic fertilisers made from a mixture of compost and chicken manure.
From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025
To start, you’ll need to cut a fabric rectangle that’s twice as long as it is wide and make a pouch by stitching the short sides together.
From Salon • Oct. 30, 2025
So far I’ve yet to see any movie figure out how to integrate the dull activity of staring at a small black rectangle into something worthy of the screen.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025
After the pastor finally finished talking, the pallbearers lowered the wooden coffin with my gran in it into the huge rectangle in the ground.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
