scalene

[skey-leen]

adjective

Geometry.
1. (of a cone or the like) having the axis inclined to the base.
2. (of a triangle) having three unequal sides.
Anatomy. of or relating to a scalenus muscle.

Origin of scalene

1635–45; < Late Latin scalēnus < Greek skalēnós unequal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for scalene

Historical Examples of scalene

A scalene triangle abc might also be employed, or a tetrahedron.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 2
Various
The points we occupied respectively formed a scalene triangle.
Gorillas & Chimpanzees
R. L. Garner
Here each face of the octahedron is replaced by six scalene triangles, so that altogether there are 575 forty-eight faces.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7
Various
The general form is bounded by twelve scalene triangles and is a ditrigonal bipyramid.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7
Various
But it is sometime rationall, and to be expressed by a number: yet but in a scalene triangle onely.
The Way To Geometry
Peter Ramus

British Dictionary definitions for scalene

scalene

adjective

maths (of a triangle) having all sides of unequal length
anatomy of or relating to any of the scalenus muscles

Word Origin for scalene

C17: from Late Latin scalēnus with unequal sides, from Greek skalēnos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scalene

adj.

"having unequal sides," 1680s, from Late Latin scalenus, from Greek skalenos "uneven, unequal, odd (numbered)," as a noun, "triangle with unequal sides," from skallein "chop, hoe," from PIE *(s)kel- (1) "to cut" (see scale (n.1)).

scalene in Science

scalene

[skā′lēn′]

Having three unequal sides, as a triangle that is neither equilateral nor isosceles.