rectangle

American  

[rek-tang-guhl] / ˈrɛkˌtæŋ gəl /

noun

1. a parallelogram having four right angles.

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rectangle British  

/ ˈrɛkˌtæŋɡəl /

noun

1. a parallelogram having four right angles Compare rhombus

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rectangle Scientific  

/ rĕk′tăng′gəl /

1. A four-sided plane figure with four right angles.

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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

Example Sentences

Another incident detected in early January involved around 1,000 Chinese fishing vessels clustered in an uneven rectangle, about 400 kilometres long, for more than a day in the same area of the East China Sea.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

Once the dough had risen, I rolled it into a rectangle, spread on a thin layer of the miso-béchamel, showered it with Parmesan, Pecorino Romano and a very healthy amount of black pepper.

From Salon • Nov. 12, 2025

In “Venice, Palazzo Dario,” each rectangle has a different kind of broken color and a different temperature.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 11, 2025

The new design that is being rolled out is topped with a grid of dark solar panels on a white rectangle, which will be oriented "due south for optimal sunlight", the firm said.

From BBC • Aug. 27, 2025

“Let’s try this one,” she said, opening the brown-and-gold rectangle that had smelled so sweet.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

• square