Geometry

How to spell geometry

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce geometry

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does geometry mean?

1. nounThe branch of mathematics concerned with points, lines, angles, surfaces, and the properties of shapes and space.

Geometry in a sentence

• The students struggled with the proofs in their geometry homework.

• Calculating the roof angles required some basic geometry.

Where does geometry come from?

Language of origin: Greek

Geometry comes from the Greek geometria, which literally meant 'measuring the earth', formed from ge meaning 'earth' or 'land' and metron meaning 'a measure'. The name reflects its very practical origins: ancient surveyors in Egypt and Greece used it to mark out fields and reset boundaries after the Nile flooded, so the subject was born from land measurement before it became an abstract study of shapes and space. The Greeks, and especially Euclid around 300 BC, turned this craft into a rigorous system of points, lines, and proofs. The word travelled into English in the late 1300s through Old French geometrie, itself drawn from the Latin geometria. The same ge- 'earth' element survives in geography and geology, while the metron 'measure' root reappears in thermometer and diameter, which is a handy reminder that the silent-feeling 'e' after the 'm' belongs to that ancient word for measure.

How the word is built

• geo- (earth)
• -metr- (from metron: measure)
• -y (noun suffix)