trapezium

American  

[truh-pee-zee-uhm] / trəˈpi zi əm /

noun

trapeziums, plural trapezia plural

1. Geometry.

   1. (in Euclidean geometry) any rectilinear quadrilateral plane figure not a parallelogram.

   2. a quadrilateral plane figure of which no two sides are parallel.

   3. British. trapezoid.

2. Anatomy. a bone in the wrist that articulates with the metacarpal bone of the thumb.

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trapezium British  

/ trəˈpiːzɪəm /

noun

1. Usual US and Canadian name: trapezoid.  a quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal length

2. a quadrilateral having neither pair of sides parallel

3. a small bone of the wrist near the base of the thumb

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trapezium Scientific  

/ trə-pē′zē-əm /

trapeziums plural

1. A four-sided plane figure having no parallel sides.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• trapezial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trapezia
  plural
• trapeziums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of trapezium

1545–55; < New Latin < Greek trapézion kind of quadrilateral, literally, small table, equivalent to trápez ( a ) table (shortening of *tetrapeza object having four feet, equivalent to tetra- four + péza foot, akin to poús, podós; see tetra-, foot) + -ion diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

This movement is produced at the first carpometacarpal joint, which is a saddle joint formed between the trapezium carpal bone and the first metacarpal bone.

From Textbooks • Jun. 19, 2013

You can see four distinctly through my telescope, forming a trapezium or four-sided figure, and more powerful instruments show two smaller ones.

From Through Magic Glasses and Other Lectures A Sequel to The Fairyland of Science by Buckley, Arabella B.

J, trapezium, with mound at S.W. corner 18 m.

From Historical Introduction to Studies Among the Sedentary Indians of New Mexico; Report on the Ruins of the Pueblo of Pecos Papers Of The Archæological Institute Of America, American Series, Vol. I by Bandelier, Adolph Francis Alphonse

With this instrument he worked diligently, and detected the sixth star in the trapezium of Orion.

From James Nasmyth: Engineer; an autobiography by Smiles, Samuel

The reflectors made by Dr. Draper "will show Debilissima quadruple, and easily bring out the companion of Sirius or the sixth star in the trapezium of Orion."

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 69, July, 1863 by Various