ἀσύμμετρος

Forms

ἀσύμμετρος (asúmmetros) m or f (neuter ἀσύμμετρον); second declension^[1] Attic ἀξύμμετρος.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not”) + σύμμετρος (súmmetros, “commensurate, in proportion”).^[1][3][4] σύμμετρος (súmmetros) is in turn formed from σύν (sún, “with”) and μέτρον (métron, “measure”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest uses are in Xenophon's Cynegeticus, of a hunting-net stake that is out of proportion, and in Plato, where the Timaeus speaks of a body not in proportion with the soul's greatest proportions.^[2][1][6]

Semantic evolution

In Plato and Aristotle it has two meanings: “out of proportion, ill-proportioned”, of bodies and things, and in mathematics “incommensurable”, as the diagonal of a square is with its side.^[2][7] Euclid defines incommensurable magnitudes with it, and Aristotle also opposes it to what is in a ratio.^[7] Later writers use it of anything unsuited to something: Plutarch calls a statesman's eminence unsuited to democracy.^[2][1]

The modern Modern Greek ασύμμετρος (asýmmetros) is a learned word meaning “asymmetrical” and “disproportionate”, also in sport and the sciences.^[8]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon and Plato use it for “out of proportion”,^[2][1] and Plato also for “incommensurable”.^[2][1][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the diagonal of a square and of ill-proportioned bodies.^[2][7]
• 3rd century BC – Euclid uses it in his definitions of incommensurable magnitudes.^[7]
• 1st century BC – Philodemus uses it of disproportionate motions.^[2][7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for “unsuited, incompatible”.^[2][1]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word for “asymmetrical”.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (mathematics) Incommensurable, having no common measure.^[2][7]
2. Not of the same measurements; of excessive length.^[1][7]
3. Out of proportion, ill-proportioned, unsymmetrical.^[2][1]
4. Unsuited, incompatible (with something).^[2][1]

Word family

• ἀσυμμετρία (asummetría)

Related words

• σύμμετρος (súmmetros)
• συμμετρία (summetría)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
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. ^ Bailly, Anatole (1901), Abrégé du dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki