trapezium

[truh-pee-zee-uh m]

noun, plural tra·pe·zi·ums, tra·pe·zi·a [truh-pee-zee-uh] /trəˈpi zi ə/.

Geometry.

(in Euclidean geometry) any rectilinear quadrilateral plane figure not a parallelogram.
a quadrilateral plane figure of which no two sides are parallel.
British.trapezoid(def 1a).

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

Nearby words

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for trapezium

Saturn's two close satellites regularly observed—eight stars in the trapezium of Orion!
Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville|Mary Somerville
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
The bones were then dissected out, leaving the trapezium, which was not diseased, and hand placed on a splint.
A Manual of the Operations of Surgery|Joseph Bell
The Lick telescope has disclosed one or two other minute points of light associated with the Trapezium.
Pleasures of the telescope|Garrett Serviss

The city of Tralles is built upon ground in the shape somewhat of a trapezium.
The Geography of Strabo, Volume III (of 3)|Strabo

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

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.

Medicine definitions for trapezium