dimension

Pronunciation

• IPA: /daɪˈmɛn.ʃən/, /dɪˈmɛn.ʃən/ (UK); /dɪˈmɛn.ʃən/, /daɪˈmɛn.ʃən/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dimencioun, from Middle French dimension or directly borrowed from Latin dīmēnsiō (“a measuring”), dīmēnsiōnem,^[2][3][4] from dīmētīrī, to measure out, from dis-, apart, and mētīrī, to measure (see measure),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *me-, to measure.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Measurement, size, measurable extent: before 1398, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus;^[2] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In geometry a mode of linear measurement, such as length, breadth and thickness, is from 1413.^[6] Bulk, size, extent or capacity is from the 1520s (1529),^[3][6] and extension in time from 1605.^[6] In algebra the degree of a product of quantities is from 1557.^[6] The figurative sense, any aspect of a situation, is from 1929,^[3][6][7] and a kind of realm or universe, as in Rod Serling's fifth dimension in The Twilight Zone (1959), came later.^[3] The verb, to cut to size, is from 1754.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1398 – measurement.^[2]
• 1413 – a geometrical dimension.^[6]
• 1529 – size, extent.^[6]
• 1754 – to dimension (verb).^[4]
• 1929 – an aspect.^[6]
• 1959 – the fifth dimension.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A measurement of size in a particular direction, such as length, width or height.
2. Extent or scope: a problem of vast dimensions.
3. An aspect or element: a new dimension to the debate.
4. (mathematics, physics) Any of the coordinates needed to locate a point in space or time.

Verb

1. To cut or shape to particular dimensions, or to mark them.

Word family

• dimensional
• dimensionally
• dimensionless
• dimensionality
• 3-D
• four-dimensional
• multidimensional
• one-dimensional

Related words

• measure
• immense

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press