asymmetrical

Etymology

It is formed from English a- + symmetrical,^[2][3] the prefix being the privative Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-).^[3] Etymonline instead derives it from asymmetry with -ical,^[4] and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate traces it to Ancient Greek ἀσυμμετρία (asummetría, “lack of proportion”), from ἀσύμμετρος (asúmmetros, “ill-proportioned”),^[5][4] from σύμμετρος (súmmetros, “commensurable, symmetrical”).^[5][4] Other adjectives formed on the same base were asymmetral (1620s), asymmetrous (1660s) and asymmetric (1839), and only the last is still current.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not symmetrical, out of proportion: 1690, in Robert Boyle's Christian Virtuoso.^[3][5] Etymonline dates it to the 1680s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective has kept its general sense of parts that do not correspond.^[3][2] The noun asymmetry had first meant, in mathematics, the relation of two quantities with no common measure (1652), and lack of proportion from 1664;^[3] from 1875 it was used in chemistry of the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule,^[3] and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate records asymmetrical, usually in the form asymmetric, for a carbon atom bonded to four different atoms or groups.^[5] The Shorter Oxford records asymmetrical warfare, attacks by small, simply armed groups on a nation with modern armed forces.^[2] Asymmetric, recorded in the OED from 1833, is now used in the same senses.^[3][6][7]

Timeline

• 1690 – not symmetrical; with the parts not arranged correspondingly.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lacking symmetry; having parts that do not correspond in size, shape or arrangement: an asymmetrical haircut.^[8][3][5][2]
2. (chemistry) Of a carbon atom: bonded to four different atoms or groups; usually asymmetric.^[5]
3. Of warfare: waged by small, lightly armed groups against a nation with sophisticated armed forces.^[2]

Word family

• asymmetrically

Related words

• asymmetry
• symmetry
• symmetrical
• asymmetric

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin