Etymologically
Log in

cylindrical

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 14 October 2026 at 23:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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