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Webster 1913 Edition


Dimension

Di-men′sion

,
Noun.
[L.
dimensio
, fr.
dimensus
, p. p. of
dimetiri
to measure out;
di- = dis-
+
metiri
to measure: cf. F.
dimension
. See
Measure
.]
1.
Measure in a single line, as length, breadth, height, thickness, or circumference; extension; measurement; – usually, in the plural, measure in length and breadth, or in length, breadth, and thickness; extent; size;
as, the
dimensions
of a room, or of a ship; the
dimensions
of a farm, of a kingdom.
Gentlemen of more than ordinary
dimensions
.
W. Irving.
Space of dimension
,
extension that has length but no breadth or thickness; a straight or curved line.
Space of two dimensions
,
extension which has length and breadth, but no thickness; a plane or curved surface.
Space of three dimensions
,
extension which has length, breadth, and thickness; a solid.
Space of four dimensions
,
as imaginary kind of extension, which is assumed to have length, breadth, thickness, and also a fourth imaginary dimension. Space of five or six, or more dimensions is also sometimes assumed in mathematics.
2.
Extent; reach; scope; importance;
as, a project of large
dimensions
.
3.
(Math.)
The degree of manifoldness of a quantity;
as, time is quantity having one
dimension
; volume has three
dimensions
, relative to extension.
4.
(Alg.)
A literal factor, as numbered in characterizing a term. The term dimensions forms with the cardinal numbers a phrase equivalent to degree with the ordinal; thus,
a
2
b
2
c
is a term of five dimensions, or of the fifth degree.
Dimensional lumber
,
Dimension lumber
,
Dimension scantling
, or
Dimension stock
(Carp.)
,
lumber for building, etc., cut to the sizes usually in demand, or to special sizes as ordered.
Dimension stone
,
stone delivered from the quarry rough, but brought to such sizes as are requisite for cutting to dimensions given.

Webster 1828 Edition


Dimension

DIMENSION

,
Noun.
[L., to measure; Gr. See Mete and Measure.] In geometry, the extent of a body, or length, breadth and thickness or depth. A line has one dimension, or length; a superficies has two dimensions, length and breadth; and a solid has three dimensions, length, breadth and thickness or depth. The word is generally used int eh plural, and denotes the whole space occupied by a body, or its capacity, size, measure; as the dimensions of a room, or of a ship; the dimensions of a farm, of a kingdom, &c.

Definition 2024


Dimension

Dimension

See also: dimension and dimensión

German

Noun

Dimension f (genitive Dimension, plural Dimensionen)

  1. dimension

Declension

dimension

dimension

See also: Dimension and dimensión

English

Noun

dimension (plural dimensions)

  1. A single aspect of a given thing.
  2. A measure of spatial extent in a particular direction, such as height, width or breadth, or depth.
    • 2012 January 1, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 23:
      We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.
  3. A construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished.
  4. (geometry) The number of independent coordinates needed to specify uniquely the location of a point in a space; also, any of such independent coordinates.
  5. (linear algebra) The number of elements of any basis of a vector space.
  6. (physics) One of the physical properties that are regarded as fundamental measures of a physical quantity, such as mass, length and time.
    The dimension of velocity is length divided by time.
  7. (computing) Any of the independent ranges of indices in a multidimensional array.
  8. (science fiction, fantasy) An alternative universe or plane of existence.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

  • hyperdimension

Translations

Verb

dimension (third-person singular simple present dimensions, present participle dimensioning, simple past and past participle dimensioned)

  1. (transitive) To mark, cut or shape something to specified dimensions.

Translations


Esperanto

Noun

dimension

  1. accusative singular of dimensio

Finnish

Noun

dimension

  1. Genitive singular form of dimensio.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dīmensio, dīmensiōnem.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /di.mɑ̃.sjɔ̃/

Noun

dimension f (plural dimensions)

  1. dimension

Anagrams