Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

trapezium

[truh-pee-zee-uh m]
See more synonyms for trapezium on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural tra·pe·zi·ums, tra·pe·zi·a [truh-pee-zee-uh] /trəˈpi zi ə/.
  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(def 1a).
  2. Anatomy. a bone in the wrist that articulates with the metacarpal bone of the thumb.
Show More

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
Related formstra·pe·zi·al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for trapezium

Historical Examples

  • Trapezium: a four-sided figure in which no two sides are parallel.

    Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology

    John. B. Smith

  • Well, it's much the same way with me since my stallion William died—of trapezium, I think the doctor said.

    A Man in the Open

    Roger Pocock

  • Their circuit may in everyday speech be called a square, though strict mathematical accuracy must pronounce it to be a trapezium.

  • His court must therefore have been a trapezium with its smallest side opposite to the pylon, rather than a rectangle.

  • To find the area of a trapezium: Divide it into two triangles and find the areas of the latter by the first rule.

    Getting Gold

    J. C. F. Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for trapezium

trapezium

noun plural -ziums or -zia (-zɪə)
  1. mainly British a quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal lengthUsual US and Canadian name: trapezoid
  2. mainly US and Canadian a quadrilateral having neither pair of sides parallel
  3. a small bone of the wrist near the base of the thumb
Show More
Derived Formstrapezial, adjective

Word Origin

C16: via Late Latin from Greek trapezion, from trapeza table
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 trapezium

n.

1560s, from Late Latin trapezium, from Greek trapezion "irregular quadrilateral," literally "a little table," diminutive of trapeza "table," from tra- "four" (see four) + peza "foot, edge," related to pous (see foot (n.)). Before 1540s, Latin editions of Euclid used the Arabic word helmariphe. As the name of a bone in the wrist, it is recorded from 1840.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
trapezium in Medicine

trapezium

(trə-pē′zē-əm)
n. pl. tra•pe•zi•ums
  1. A quadrilateral having no parallel sides.
  2. A bone in the wrist at the base of the thumb, articulating with the first and second metacarpal, scaphoid, and trapezoid bones.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
trapezium in Science

trapezium

[trə-pē′zē-əm]
Plural trapeziums trapezia
  1. A four-sided plane figure having no parallel sides.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.