cylindrical

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪˈlɪndɹɪkəl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from cylindric and -al,^[2][3][4] from New Latin cylindricus,^[4][5] from Ancient Greek κυλινδρικός (kulindrikós),^[2][5][6] from κύλινδρος (kúlindros, “cylinder, roller”) (see cylinder).^[2][5][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also allows that the shorter form came through French cylindrique.^[6][7] Etymonline notes that the form in -al (1640s) is recorded before the shorter one (1680s).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having the shape of a cylinder (1646).^[8][9][10]

Semantic evolution

Soon after the first record it was also used more broadly of anything pertaining to a cylinder (1656).^[8][10] Specialised terms followed, such as cylindrical projection, a map projection made by projecting a sphere onto a cylinder that is then unrolled.^[8][3] In mathematics it describes a coordinate system that combines polar coordinates in a plane with a coordinate measured perpendicular to it.^[11]

Timeline

• 1646 – having the form of a cylinder.^[8][9][6]
• 1656 – relating to a cylinder.^[8][10]
• 1680s – cylindric.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Shaped like a cylinder, especially a circular one.
2. Of or relating to a cylinder.
3. (mathematics) Of a coordinate system made of two polar coordinates in a plane and a third coordinate measured at right angles to it.
4. Of a map projection in which the meridians and parallels become straight lines.

Word family

• cylindricality
• cylindrically
• semicylindrical
• subcylindrical

Related words

• cylinder
• calender

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin