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.
Gathered around a rectangular table, he announced his plan: five panels of outside experts would spend the next few months examining how the Fed reads the economy and explains itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
In Welshpool, Powys, cropmarks of a rectangular Neolithic long barrow has been seen that dates back around 5,000 years, while in Conwy new details have been collected of buried Roman buildings at Caerhun Roman fort.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The tower of the former Pfizer headquarters was built in the 1960s, alternating sleek rows of metallic cladding and rectangular windows up a wedding-cake-shaped facade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Imagine a thin rectangular strip of metal carrying an electric current.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026
It was a small rectangular box with a sturdy lock in front.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
