πολύγωνος

Forms

πολῠ́γωνος (polúgōnos) m or f (neuter πολῠ́γωνον); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “much, many”) + γωνία (gōníā, “angle”), with the adjectival ending -ος, like τρίγωνος (trígōnos, “three-cornered”).^[1][2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its neuter, used as a noun for a polygon, is first found in the 5th century BC in Antiphon the Sophist.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle uses the adjective of many-angled shapes in his work on the senses, and Plutarch also uses it.^[5][2][6] The neuter noun became a term of mathematics, used very often by Archimedes in the 3rd century BC, and later by Galen.^[7][5] German Vieleck and Dutch veelhoek are calques of it.^[1]

Modern Greek continues it as the learned adjective πολύγωνος (políghonos), for a shape with many (more than four) angles, and as the noun πολύγωνο (polýgono), the mathematical term for any figure bounded by a closed broken line.^[8][4][9]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Antiphon the Sophist uses the neuter for a polygon.^[5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the adjective of many-angled shapes.^[5][7]
• 3rd century BC – Archimedes uses the noun throughout his geometry.^[7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses the adjective.^[5][2]
• 2nd century AD – Galen uses the noun.^[5]
• Modern Greek – The learned adjective and the noun πολύγωνο (polýgono) continue it in geometry.^[8][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Polygonal, having many angles.^[5][2][1]
2. (neuter, as a noun) A polygon.^[5][1]

Word family

• πολύγωνον (polúgōnon)

Related words

• τρίγωνος (trígōnos)
• γωνία (gōníā)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
4. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens