adjective
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shaped like a rectangle
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having or relating to right angles
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mutually perpendicular
rectangular coordinates
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having a base or section shaped like a rectangle
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rectangular
1615–25; < Medieval Latin rēctangul ( um ) rectangle + -ar 1
Explanation
In geometry, something that is rectangular had four sides and four right angles. Cereal boxes, dollar bills, and many cell phones have a rectangular shape. Anything shaped like a rectangle is rectangular. Your backyard may be rectangular, and your brother's oversized suit jacket might give his body a somewhat rectangular shape. The most important aspect of something that makes it rectangular is those four right angles, and the word itself is rooted in the Latin rectus, "right," and the Old French angle, "angle."
Vocabulary lists containing rectangular
Geometry - Introductory
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Geometry - Middle School
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Number and Operations: Fractions
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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.
Instead, the researchers used a tabletop rectangular tank filled with viscous glycerol and tiny thermochromic liquid crystals that change color as temperatures shift.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
The repair company has said it will fix the rectangular structure as part of its warranty.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Biologists and national park staff wearing masks and gloves set up dozens of small rectangular metal cages on trails outside Ushuaia as night fell.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
A famous example was a 1986 column on the Solomon R. Guggenheim’s proposal to expand its iconic Frank Lloyd Wright building by erecting a rectangular tower behind the smaller of the building’s two rotundas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Mr. Lawson wears rectangular black-framed glasses that magnify his gray eyes.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
