Cylindrical

How to spell cylindrical

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce cylindrical

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cylindrical mean?

1. adjectiveShaped like a cylinder, having straight sides and a circular cross section.

Cylindrical in a sentence

• The engineer designed a cylindrical tank to hold the fuel.

• The pasta came in a tall cylindrical container.

Where does cylindrical come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek kylindros, which meant a roller or a rolled-up object, and which came from the verb kylindein, 'to roll'. The Greeks used kylindros for the rounded geometric solid we still picture today, and Latin took it over as cylindrus. English borrowed the noun 'cylinder' in the 1500s, and the adjective 'cylindrical' was formed soon after by adding the familiar -ical ending. The spelling preserves the original Greek 'y', which is exactly the trap for modern writers, since the opening syllable sounds like a plain 's' yet is written 'cy'. The same rolling root survives in the everyday word 'cylinder' and helps explain why the shape is named after something that rolls.

How the word is built

• cylindr- (from Greek kylindros: roller, cylinder)
• -ical (adjective suffix)