Dimensional

How to spell dimensional

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce dimensional

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does dimensional mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the measurable extent of something, or to a particular number of dimensions such as length, width, and depth.

Dimensional in a sentence

• The engineers checked every dimensional tolerance before approving the part.

• The new printer can build complex three-dimensional models from a single file.

Where does dimensional come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb metiri, meaning 'to measure', from which came dimensio, meaning 'a measuring out' or 'an extent'. The prefix di- here represents dis-, conveying the sense of measuring something out across its full extent. English took the noun 'dimension' from Old French in the late 1300s to describe measurable extent such as length, breadth, and depth, and the adjective 'dimensional' was later formed by adding the suffix -al, meaning 'relating to'. The same metiri root surfaces in everyday relatives such as 'measure' and 'immense', the latter literally meaning 'not measurable'. The spelling trap sits in the unstressed middle: the -mens- comes from measuring, and the ending stacks -ion onto -al, giving the often-miscounted double run of letters in -sional.

How the word is built

• di- (apart)
• mens (from metiri: to measure)
• -ion (noun suffix)
• -al (adjective suffix)