Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
Home / What Is the Meaning of the Word Perpendicular

What Is the Meaning of the Word Perpendicular

  • Top Definitions
  • Synonyms
  • Quiz
  • Related Content
  • Examples
  • British
  • Scientific

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

perpendicular

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

adjective

vertical; straight up and down; upright.

Geometry. meeting a given line or surface at right angles.

maintaining a standing or upright position; standing up.

having a sharp pitch or slope; steep.

(initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to the last style of English Gothic architecture, prevailing from the late 14th through the early 16th century and characterized by the use of predominantly vertical tracery, an overall linear, shallow effect, and fine intricate stonework.

noun

a perpendicular line or plane.

an instrument for indicating the vertical line from any point.

an upright position.

a sharply pitched or precipitously steep mountain face.

moral virtue or uprightness; rectitude.

Nautical. either of two lines perpendicular to the keel line, base line, or designed water line of a vessel.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Which of the following words describes "sky blue"?

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Origin of perpendicular

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin perpendiculāris "vertical," equivalent to perpendicul(um) "plumb line" (see perpend2, -i-, -cule2) + -āris-ar1; replacing Middle English perpendiculer(e) (adjective and adverb), from Old French perpendiculiere

synonym study for perpendicular

OTHER WORDS FROM perpendicular

per·pen·dic·u·lar·i·ty, per·pen·dic·u·lar·ness, noun per·pen·dic·u·lar·ly, adverb non·per·pen·dic·u·lar, adjective, noun non·per·pen·dic·u·lar·ly, adverb

non·per·pen·dic·u·lar·i·ty, noun un·per·pen·dic·u·lar, adjective un·per·pen·dic·u·lar·ly, adverb

Words nearby perpendicular

peroxymonosulfuric acid, peroxysulfuric acid, peroxysulphuric acid, perp, perpend, perpendicular, perpent, perpetrate, perpetrator, perpetual, perpetual adoration

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to perpendicular

How to use perpendicular in a sentence

  • Put your feet on the socks, and start in a standard push-up position, with your hands on the yoga mat, your body perpendicular to the mat.

  • To start, stand on the hill perpendicular to the slope, with your uphill edges dug in.

  • Even if you've mastered fall-line skiing elsewhere, when you get into steep terrain, your instinct might still be to move sideways, swinging your whole body around with each turn and finishing with your skis perpendicular to the slope.

  • Aggressively working 550 cord perpendicular across a zip tie will weaken the plastic until it eventually breaks.

  • Let the line from the origin to A and the origin to B, 2 perpendicular radii of a circle centered at the origin.

  • In the parish churches, many of which are of great interest, the predominant styles are Decorated and Perpendicular.

  • Among the Perpendicular additions to the church last named may be noted a very beautiful oaken rood-screen.

  • The water-piston is 10 inches in diameter, drawing and forcing 35 feet perpendicular, equal beam.

  • Le Bouton was dominated by a perpendicular rock two thousand feet high.

  • They were at the foot of one of the narrow almost perpendicular blocks that rose between Pine and California streets.

British Dictionary definitions for perpendicular

adjective

Also: normal at right angles to a horizontal plane

denoting, relating to, or having the style of Gothic architecture used in England during the 14th and 15th centuries, characterized by tracery having vertical lines, a four-centred arch, and fan vaulting

upright; vertical

noun

geometry a line or plane perpendicular to another

any instrument used for indicating the vertical line through a given point

mountaineering a nearly vertical face

Derived forms of perpendicular

perpendicularity (ˌpɜːpənˌdɪkjʊˈlærɪtɪ), noun perpendicularly, adverb

Word Origin for perpendicular

C14: from Latin perpendiculāris, from perpendiculum a plumb line, from per- through + pendēre to hang

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for perpendicular

Adjective

Intersecting at or forming a right angle or right angles.

Noun

A line or plane that is perpendicular to a given line or plane.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

What Is the Meaning of the Word Perpendicular

Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/perpendicular