trapezium English · revision 1286

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tɹəˈpiː.zi.əm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|trapezium]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|τραπέζιον|tr=trapézion|t=little table; irregular quadrilateral]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a diminutive of ''trápeza'' “table”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''tra-'' “four” and ''péza'' “foot, edge”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The Greek table is said to have had one side shorter than the opposite one.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[trapeze]] and [[trapezoid]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In geometry, any four-sided figure that is not a parallelogram (1551 in the OED; 1570 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word has been confused with ''trapezoid'', and the two have exchanged senses at various times.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) The OED records the specific sense of a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides from 1570,^(OED 1989) and of one with no parallel sides as the usual English sense from about 1800 to 1875.^(OED 1989) As the name of a bone of the wrist it is recorded from 1840.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1551 – any quadrilateral not a parallelogram.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1570 – a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1795 – a quadrilateral with no parallel sides.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1840 – a bone of the wrist.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # In American usage, a [[quadrilateral]] with no parallel sides.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In British usage, a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides (an American [[trapezoid]]).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A bone of the [[wrist]] at the base of the thumb.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trapezial]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[trapeze]]

+ * [[trapeziform]]

+ * [[trapezius]]

+ * [[trapezoid]]

+ * [[tetra-]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary notes that ''trapezium'' and ''trapezoid'' have swapped meanings in the U.S. and Canada compared with the rest of the world.^(Wiktionary) Merriam-Webster gives ''trapeziums'' and ''trapezia'' as plurals.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}