trapezium

[truh-pee-zee-uh m]

noun, plural tra·pe·zi·ums, tra·pe·zi·a

[truh-pee-zee-uh] /trəˈpi zi ə/.

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

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 of trapezium

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.
Sketches of Travel in Normandy and Maine
Edward A. Freeman
His court must therefore have been a trapezium with its smallest side opposite to the pylon, rather than a rectangle.
A history of art in ancient Egypt, Vol. I (of 2)
Georges Perrot
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)

mainly British a quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal lengthUsual US and Canadian name: trapezoid
mainly US and Canadian a quadrilateral having neither pair of sides parallel
a small bone of the wrist near the base of the thumb

Derived Formstrapezial, adjective

Word Origin for trapezium

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

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.

trapezium in Medicine

trapezium

(trə-pē′zē-əm)

n. pl. tra•pe•zi•ums

A quadrilateral having no parallel sides.
A bone in the wrist at the base of the thumb, articulating with the first and second metacarpal, scaphoid, and trapezoid bones.

trapezium in Science