symmetrical

Etymology

It is formed from English symmetry + -ical, after geometrical.^[2][3][4][5] Its base is from Middle French symmetrie, or the from Late Latin symmetria behind it,^[2][4] from Ancient Greek συμμετρία (summetría, “agreement in dimensions, due proportion”), from σύμμετρος (súmmetros, “having a common measure, proportionate”),^[4][2] formed from σύν (sún, “with, together”) and μέτρον (métron, “measure”),^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *me- (“to measure”).^[4] English also had symmetrial (1610s) and symmetral (1650s), and the shorter symmetric from the 1660s.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having its parts regularly and harmoniously arranged; well-proportioned, balanced: 1751, in Johnson's Rambler.^[2][4] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1653,^[6] and the adverb symmetrically goes back to the 1570s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Johnson's dictionary (1755) defined it only as "proportionate; having parts well adapted to each other".^[7] The word followed the scientific senses of symmetry: from 1794 it was used in geometry of a figure whose parts are arranged in matching pairs about a line, plane or point,^[2][4] from 1816 in algebra of an expression unchanged when two of its variables are interchanged,^[2] from 1849 in botany of a flower with the same number of parts in each whorl,^[2] and since 1851 in anatomy and zoology of a body with corresponding parts on opposite sides of a plane or around an axis.^[2] In photography a symmetrical was a lens of symmetrical form, from 1890.^[2]

Timeline

• 1751 – having well-proportioned, balanced parts.^[2][4] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1653.^[6]
• 1794 – geometry, of a figure whose parts are arranged evenly about a line, plane or point.^[2][4]
• 1816 – mathematics, of an expression or equation unchanged when two variables are interchanged.^[2]
• 1849 – botany, of a flower with the same number of parts in each whorl.^[2]
• 1851 – anatomy and zoology, with corresponding parts on either side of a plane or around an axis.^[2]
• 1890 – photography, of a lens; also as a noun, a symmetrical lens.^[2]
• 1978 – symmetrical difference, in mathematics and logic.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having symmetry; made up of parts that match in size, shape and position on either side of a line or around a centre; balanced and regular: The gardener planted the two beds in a symmetrical pattern.^[8][6][2]
2. (geometry) Of points or a figure: arranged in pairs whose connecting lines are bisected by a given point, or bisected at right angles by a given line or plane.^[8][6][2]
3. (mathematics) Of an equation, expression or function: unchanged in value when any two of its variables are interchanged.^[8][2]
4. (anatomy, zoology) Having corresponding parts or organs on opposite sides of a dividing plane, or arranged regularly around an axis.^[2][6]
5. (botany) Of a flower: having the same number of parts in each whorl.^[2]

Word family

• symmetrically
• symmetricalness
• nonsymmetrical
• unsymmetrical

Related words

• symmetrize
• symmetry
• asymmetrical
• geometrical
• meter

Usage notes

Symmetric is an equivalent form, given by Merriam-Webster as a variant.^[6][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins