trapezoid
[trap-uh-zoid]
- Geometry.
- a quadrilateral plane figure having two parallel and two nonparallel sides.
- British.trapezium(def 1b).
- Anatomy. a bone in the wrist that articulates with the metacarpal bone of the forefinger.
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- Also trap·e·zoi·dal. Geometry. of, relating to, or having the form of a trapezoid.
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Origin of trapezoid
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for trapezoidal
Historical Examples
The area is trapezoidal; in other words, the sides vary in length.
Vacation days in GreeceRufus B. Richardson
A section across the middle of the implement would be trapezoidal with incurved sides.
Throwing-sticks in the National MuseumOtis T. Mason
The labrum, or upper lip, is separated by a deep suture from the clypeus, and is trapezoidal in form.
Our Common InsectsAlpheus Spring Packard
In channels of trapezoidal form the velocity increases and diminishes with the discharge.
They consisted of shutters stiffened with four trapezoidal trusses.
ASCE 1193: The Water-Works and Sewerage of Monterrey, N. L., MexicoGeorge Robert Graham Conway
trapezoid
- a quadrilateral having neither pair of sides parallel
- Also called: (Brit, Austral., NZ, and South African) trapezium US and Canadian a quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal length
- a small bone of the wrist near the base of the index finger
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Word Origin
C18: from New Latin trapezoidēs, from Late Greek trapezoeidēs trapezium-shaped, 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 trapezoidal
trapezoid
n.
1706, "a trapezium," from Modern Latin trapezoides, from Late Greek trapezoeides (Proclus), special use by Euclid of Greek trapezoeides "trapezium-shaped," from trapeza, literally "table" (see trapezium), + -oeides "shaped" (see -oid). Technically, a quadrilateral figure with no two sides parallel. But in English since c.1800, often confused with trapezium in its sense of "a quadrilateral figure having only two sides parallel."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
trapezoid
(trăp′ĭ-zoid′)- A quadrilateral having two parallel sides.
- A small bone in the wrist that is situated near the base of the index finger and that articulates with the second metacarpal, trapezium, capitate, and scaphoid bones.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
trapezoid
[trăp′ĭ-zoid′]
- A four-sided plane figure having two parallel sides.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
trapezoid
[(trap-uh-zoyd)]
A four-sided polygon in which two sides are parallel and two are not.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.