Asymmetric

How to spell asymmetric

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce asymmetric

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does asymmetric mean?

1. adjectiveLacking balance or equal correspondence between two sides, parts, or parties.

Asymmetric in a sentence

• The architect designed an asymmetric facade with a tall wing on one side only.

• The haircut looked deliberately asymmetric, longer on the left than the right.

Where does asymmetric come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is built entirely from Greek parts. At its heart is metron, meaning 'a measure', combined with the prefix syn-, meaning 'together' or 'with', to give symmetria, the idea of parts being well measured against one another, that is, balanced proportion. Adding the negating prefix a-, meaning 'not' or 'without', produces the sense of lacking that balance. English took 'symmetry' through Latin and French in the 1500s, and the negative adjective 'asymmetric' was assembled later, in the nineteenth century, as scientists and mathematicians needed a precise term for shapes and forces that are not balanced. The same metron root sits inside everyday measuring words such as 'metre' and 'thermometer', and recognising the buried 'sym' (together) helps explain why the tricky middle is spelled symm with a double m.

How the word is built

• a- (not, without)
• sym- (together, with)
• metr (measure)
• -ic (adjective suffix)