dimensionn.

/dɪˈmɛnʃən/

Forms: Also Middle English–1500s dy-, -sioun, -cion, -cyon, 1500s–1600s dimention, 1600s demension, demention.

Etymology: < French dimension (1425 in Hatzfeld & Darmesteter), < Latin dīmensiōn-em , noun of action < dīmetīri (participial stem dīmens- ): see dimense v.

†1.

a. The action of measuring, measurement. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > measurement > [noun]

i-metOE

metingc1350

measurea1382

measuringa1398

commensuration1555

dimension1555

mensuration?a1560

measurement1590

dimensuration1593

admeasurement1610

admensuration1670

evaluation1780

quantification1851

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 243 Accordynge to the ordinarie accoumpte and dimension which the pylotes and Cosmographers doo make.

1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. I4 Things infinite I see Brooke no dimension.

1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 65 If a man pursue it [sc. geometry] not only for mechanicall dimension, but that he may by the helps thereof ascend [etc.].

1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §97 Taking such dimensions as would enable me to make an accurate model..of the rock.

†b. Music. The division of a longer note into shorter notes, constituting ‘time’ or rhythm; plural ‘measures’, measured strains. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [noun]

proportiona1387

measurea1525

mode1561

casure1565

moodc1570

rhythm1576

rhyme1586

stotc1590

dimension1597

sextupla1597

timing1597

rhythmus1603

cadence1605

time1609

cadency1628

movement1683

lilt1841

metre1873

tempus1889

riddim1943

1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 13 Phi. What call they time? Ma. The dimension of the Breefe by semibreeues.

1635 R. Brathwait tr. M. Silesio Arcadian Princesse i. 165 Harmonious reports in these Musicall dimensions.

a. Measurable or spatial extent of any kind, as length, breadth, thickness, area, volume; measurement, measure, magnitude, size. (Now commonly in plural: cf. proportions.) Also figurative. Magnitude, extent, degree (of an abstract thing).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun]

greatness1381

measurea1382

quantitya1387

muchnessa1398

sizea1400

largec1400

micklec1400

moisonc1400

of suingc1400

bignessc1475

assize1481

proportions1481

bodya1500

dimension1529

measuring1529

wideness1535

bind1551

corporance1570

magnitude1570

mickledom1596

amplitude1599

breadth1609

extendure1613

extension1614

extent1623

extensure1631

dimense1632

dimensity1655

bulkiness1674

bulksomeness1674

admeasurement1754

calliper1819

acreage1846

1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes ii, in Wks. 188/1 Though thei be not cyrcumscribed in place, for lack of bodily dymencion and measuring, yet are..angels..diffinitively so placed where thei be for the time.

1596 J. Davies Orchestra xcv. sig. C2^v Whose quick eyes doe explore The iust dimension both of earth and heau'n.

1615 J. Stephens Satyrical Ess. 292 Confounding (like a bad Logician) the forme and the dimention.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxiv. 208 Whatsoever has dimension, is Body.

1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements i. 29 The dimension of any parallelogram..is found out by this theoreme.

1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 6 He will never rightly describe the dimensions of solid Bodies..his Circles will seem Ovals in Breadth, and his Ovals Circles.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 893 A dark Illimitable Ocean without bound, Without dimension, where length, breadth, and highth, And time and place are lost.

?1710 Squire Bickerstaff Detected 4 I..was surpriz'd to find my Gentleman..measuring my Walls, and taking the Dimensions of the Room.

1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful ii. §7. 51 Greatness of dimension, is a powerful cause of the sublime.

1772 S. Denne & W. Shrubsole Hist. Rochester 44 All the beams..ought to be of large dimensions.

1850 R. W. Emerson Shakspeare in Representative Men v. 204 That imagination which dilates the closet he writes in to the world's dimension.

1893 Law Times 95 104/2 Posts of the dimensions of 3 in. by 2½ in.

figurative.1661 E. Hickeringill Jamaica 51 The Expedition against Hispaniola;..The Dimensions of this great Preparation vastly exceeding the difficulties.1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine i. 106 The Afflictions of his Soul..were of a higher Dimension in the Garden.1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Oct. 2/3 That passion for athletics which in Oxford has now almost reached the dimensions of a mania.

†b. transferred. Extension in time, duration.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > duration > [noun]

lengtha1240

date?1316

durationc1384

hautesse1399

quantity?a1425

periodc1475

tracta1513

allowance1526

continuance1530

wideness1535

continue1556

protense1590

countenance1592

stay1595

standing1600

dimension1605

longanimity1607

longinquity1607

insisture1609

existence1615

unprivationa1628

continuity1646

protension1654

measure1658

course1665

contention1666

propagation1741

protensity1886

1605 L. Andrewes Serm. II. 170 The cross..is mors prolixa, a death of dimensions, a death long in dying.

a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iv. ii. 308 We have no reason to imagin that the sixth day was of any other dimension than the seventh day.

c. figurative. Any of the component aspects of a particular situation, etc., esp. one newly discovered; an attribute of, or way of viewing, an abstract entity. Cf. aspect n. 9, 12.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > constituent part or component > aspect of an abstract entity

visagec1374

sidea1393

respecta1398

facet1808

prong1859

parameter1927

dimension1929

1929 R. S. Lynd & H. M. Lynd Middletown xviii. 263 Like the automobile, the motion picture is more to Middletown than simply a new way of doing an old thing; it has added new dimensions to the city's leisure.

1952 Times 1 Aug. 7/3 It is in helping nations to provide the material for their own or for one another's defence, instead of having it provided direct from America, that the value of off-shore purchasing lies. Here, in another dimension, is the principle of ‘trade, not aid’.

1956 R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond xxv. 287 A dimension has been taken out of my life, leaving it flat, not rich and rounded.

1961 A. O. J. Cockshut Imagination of Charles Dickens xi. 158 The religious dimension, which would have given coherence and deeper meaning to the withered and touching scraps of virtue displayed by Flora and Mrs. Plornish, and even by Mrs. Clennam—a triumph of fairness—this is absent.

1973 P. White Eye of Storm vi. 237 This work of ours..will add another dimension to the art of theatre.

1985 Times 24 Jan. 14/4 The effect of ‘sub-clinical’ nutrient deficiencies too small to cause acute illness is another elusive dimension.

3. Mathematics.

a. Geometry. A mode of linear measurement, magnitude, or extension, in a particular direction; usually as co-existing with similar measurements or extensions in other directions.The three dimensions of a body, or of ordinary space, are length, breadth, and thickness (or depth); a surface has only two dimensions (length and breadth); a line only one (length). Here the notion of measurement or magnitude is commonly lost, and the word denotes merely a particular mode of spatial extension. Modern mathematicians have speculated as to the possibility of more than three dimensions of space.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun] > a) dimension(s)

dimension1413

quantity1590

metings1674

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [noun]

lenghc888

longnessOE

length1154

dimension1413

sideness1422

longitude?a1425

prolixity?a1425

distance1582

longity1604

distent1613

protension1704

sidth1831

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > division or marking of

dimension1413

1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) v. xiv. 107 Ther is no body parfit withouten thre dymensions, that is breede, lengthe, and depnesse.

c1430 Art Nombryng (1922) 14 A lyne hathe but one dymensioun that is to sey after the lengthe..a superficialle thynge hathe .2. dimensions, þat is to sey lengthe and brede.

1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 1 There pertaine to quantitie three dimensions, length, bredth, & thicknes.

1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. ii. 14 These two Dimensions..are length and breadth, whereof euery plaine figure, or superficies consists.

1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 100 All physical magnitude must have three dimensions, length, breadth, and thickness.

1858 W. Whewell Hist. Sci. Ideas ii. viii. §4–5 Time is conceived as a quantity of one dimension..Indeed the analogy between time, and space of one dimension, is so close, that the same terms are applied to both ideas.

1858 W. Whewell Hist. Sci. Ideas ii. vi The eye..sees length and breadth, but no third dimension. In order to know that there are solids, we must infer as well as see.

1873 W. K. Clifford Pure Sci. in Contemp. Rev. Oct. (1874) 716 Out of space of two dimensions, as we call it, I have made space of three dimensions.

1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe vii. §220. 221 Suppose our (essentially three-dimensional) matter to be the mere skin or boundary of an Unseen whose matter has four dimensions.

b. Algebra. Since the product of two, or of three, quantities, each denoting a length (i.e. a magnitude of one dimension), represents an area or a volume (i.e. a magnitude of two, or of three, dimensions), such products themselves are said to be of so many dimensions; and generally, the number of dimensions of a product is the number of the (unknown or variable) quantities contained in it as factors (known or constant quantities being reckoned of no dimensions); any power of a quantity being of the dimensions denoted by its index. (Thus x³, x²y, xyz are each of three dimensions.) The dimensions of an expression or equation are those of the term of highest dimensions in it. (The number of dimensions corresponds to the degree of a quantity or equation: see degree n. 13.)

ΚΠ

1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Hii The nomber that doeth amounte thereof (3 × 3 × 3) hath gotten 3. dimensiones, whiche properly belongeth to a bodie, or sound forme. And therfore is it called a Cube, or Cubike nomber.

1690 W. Leybourn Cursus mathematicus 334 Every Power hath so many Dimensions as the Letters wherewith it is written.

1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 40 The Quantity produc'd by the Multiplication of Two, Three, etc. Quantities, is said to be of Two, Three, etc. Dimensions.

1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 190 To find the Greatest Common Measure of the Terms of a Fraction..Range the quantities according to the dimensions of some letters.

c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 476/1 When the..equations are..of two dimensions.

c. [ < French dimension (J. B. J. Fourier Théorie anal. de la Chaleur (1822) ii. §ix. 154).] The power to which any one of the fundamental quantities or units is raised in the expression defining a derived quantity or unit in terms of them; also (in plural), all the fundamental quantities in such an expression, each raised to its appropriate power, which together show how the unit of the derived quantity depends on the fundamental units; method of dimensions, dimensional analysis. The ‘fundamental quantities’ are usually taken to be mass, length, and time, with the addition of one or more other quantities in certain cases (such as electrical and magnetic phenomena).

ΚΠ

1864 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1863 132 The value of a force is directly proportional to a length and a mass, but inversely proportional to the square of a time. This is expressed by saying that the dimensions of a force are LM/T².

1877 Ld. Rayleigh Theory of Sound I. iii. 47 From the necessity of a complete enumeration of all the quantities on which the required result may depend, the method of dimensions is somewhat dangerous.

1878 A. Freeman tr. J. B. J. Fourier Anal. Theory Heat ii. 128 Every undetermined magnitude or constant has one dimension proper to itself, and..the terms of one and the same equation could not be compared, if they had not the same exponent of dimension. We have introduced this consideration..in order to make our definitions more exact, and to serve to verify the analysis.

1878 A. Freeman tr. J. B. J. Fourier Anal. Theory Heat ii. 129 The dimensions of x, t, v with respect to the unit of time are 0, 1, 0, and those of K, h, c are −1, −1, 0.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 736/2 Velocity is of +1 dimension in length and −1 dimension in time.

1925 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 50 32 The dimensions of the viscosity, η, are ML⁻¹T⁻¹, of the density, ρ, ML⁻³, whilst σ/σ′ is of no dimensions.

1925 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 50 31 Much information can be obtained concerning F by means of the method of dimensions.

1933 A. W. Porter (title) The method of dimensions.

1960 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. IV. 197/2 Quantities with the same dimensions can be expressed in the same units.

1964 H. S. Hvistendahl Engin. Units i. 7 For example, in the case of force, the term ‘dimensions’ is now generally understood to mean LMT⁻², and not merely 1, 1, −2.

1969 L. Young Syst. Units Electr. & Magn. i. 7 Area has dimensions of length squared; denoting ‘dimensions of’ by square brackets, we write [A] = [L]².

1970 Nature 29 Aug. 935/2 In SI units the constant μ₀ = 4π × 10⁻⁷ is indispensable in many formulae, if the dimensions are to balance.

†4. Measurable form or frame; plural material parts, as of the human body; ‘proportions’. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > [noun]

featurec1325

making1340

staturec1380

statea1387

bonea1400

figurec1400

makec1425

corpulence1477

corsage1481

makdom1488

mouldc1550

corporature1555

frame1566

dimension1600

limit1608

set1611

timber1612

compact1646

taille1663

fabric1695

moulding1815

physique1826

tournure1827

build1832

form1849

body type1866

body build1907

somatotype1940

size1985

the world > life > the body > part of body > [noun]

limbc1000

partyc1300

feature1393

member?a1400

partc1400

dimension1600

site1861

1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. i. 55 Hath not a Iewe hands, organs, dementions, sences, affections, passions.

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ii. 7 My dementions are as well compact, my mind as generous, and my shape as true.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. v. 250 I..know him noble..And in dimension, and the shape of nature, A gracious person.

1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. viii. 28 The Humbird is..no bigger than a Hornet, yet hath all the demensions of a Bird, as bill, and wings, with quills, spider-like legges, small clawes.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 793 In thir own dimensions like themselves The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim In close recess and secret conclave sat.

figurative.a1652 A. Wilson Hist. Great Brit. (1653) 162 The younger having all the Dimensions of a Courtier.1660 E. Waterhouse Disc. Arms & Armory 28 Nations, whose polity had all the dimensions of order in it.

Compounds

dimension lines n. straight lines usually having an arrow at each end, indicating the parts or lines to which the figured dimensions refer in a technical drawing. dimension-lumber n., dimension-timber n., dimension-stone n. i.e. that which is cut to specified dimensions or size. dimension-work n. masonry built of ‘dimension-stones’. (Chiefly U.S.)

ΚΠ

a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) vii. 120 The modern houses built of what is called ‘dimension timber’, imported from Maine, all ready to be set up.

1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Dimension Lumber, lumber sawed to specific sizes to order.

1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing 5 Dimension lines and centre lines are best put in of different colour.

1902 P. Marshall Metal Working Tools 18 The marking of dimension lines on metal surfaces is generally done with a steel scriber.

1927 G. E. Draycott Technical Drawing xii. 184 No dimension line should run closer than ¼″ to a line to which it is parallel.

1961 H. F. Bellis & W. A. Schmidt Archit. Drafting xiii. 81/2 Use a 2H pencil for extension and dimension lines.

Draft additions September 2018

Mathematics. Originally: the minimum number of independent coordinates needed to specify a point of a particular geometric or topological space. In later use also more generally: any of various quantities assigned to certain types of space or object as a measure of a property analogous to size or extent.Frequently with modifying word, as Hausdorff dimension, Krull dimension, etc.One of the most commonly encountered notions of dimension in this sense is that of a vector space, in which context the dimension is the number of vectors required to form a basis (basis n. Additions) for that space.

ΚΠ

1914 F. E. Wood Coordinate Syst. in One & Two Dimensions (M.A. thesis, Univ. of Kansas) 8 The number of coordinates necessary to determine the given r-space will equal the dimension of the n-space when the r-space is taken as the element.

1946 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 59 24 Any closed subset of E has a Hausdorff dimension of order α + ε equal to zero.

1970 Ann. Math. 91 26 If R is a ring, dim R denotes the Krull dimension of R.

2011 I. Stewart Math. of Life x. 150 The dimension of a space is the number of independent coordinates needed to specify the things that belong to it.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

单词	dimension
释义	dimensionn. /dɪˈmɛnʃən/ Forms: Also Middle English–1500s dy-, -sioun, -cion, -cyon, 1500s–1600s dimention, 1600s demension, demention. Etymology: < French dimension (1425 in Hatzfeld & Darmesteter), < Latin dīmensiōn-em , noun of action < dīmetīri (participial stem dīmens- ): see dimense v. †1. a. The action of measuring, measurement. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > [noun] i-metOE metingc1350 measurea1382 measuringa1398 commensuration1555 dimension1555 mensuration?a1560 measurement1590 dimensuration1593 admeasurement1610 admensuration1670 evaluation1780 quantification1851 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 243 Accordynge to the ordinarie accoumpte and dimension which the pylotes and Cosmographers doo make. 1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. I4 Things infinite I see Brooke no dimension. 1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 65 If a man pursue it [sc. geometry] not only for mechanicall dimension, but that he may by the helps thereof ascend [etc.]. 1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §97 Taking such dimensions as would enable me to make an accurate model..of the rock. †b. Music. The division of a longer note into shorter notes, constituting ‘time’ or rhythm; plural ‘measures’, measured strains. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [noun] proportiona1387 measurea1525 mode1561 casure1565 moodc1570 rhythm1576 rhyme1586 stotc1590 dimension1597 sextupla1597 timing1597 rhythmus1603 cadence1605 time1609 cadency1628 movement1683 lilt1841 metre1873 tempus1889 riddim1943 1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 13 Phi. What call they time? Ma. The dimension of the Breefe by semibreeues. 1635 R. Brathwait tr. M. Silesio Arcadian Princesse i. 165 Harmonious reports in these Musicall dimensions. 2. a. Measurable or spatial extent of any kind, as length, breadth, thickness, area, volume; measurement, measure, magnitude, size. (Now commonly in plural: cf. proportions.) Also figurative. Magnitude, extent, degree (of an abstract thing). ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun] greatness1381 measurea1382 quantitya1387 muchnessa1398 sizea1400 largec1400 micklec1400 moisonc1400 of suingc1400 bignessc1475 assize1481 proportions1481 bodya1500 dimension1529 measuring1529 wideness1535 bind1551 corporance1570 magnitude1570 mickledom1596 amplitude1599 breadth1609 extendure1613 extension1614 extent1623 extensure1631 dimense1632 dimensity1655 bulkiness1674 bulksomeness1674 admeasurement1754 calliper1819 acreage1846 1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes ii, in Wks. 188/1 Though thei be not cyrcumscribed in place, for lack of bodily dymencion and measuring, yet are..angels..diffinitively so placed where thei be for the time. 1596 J. Davies Orchestra xcv. sig. C2^v Whose quick eyes doe explore The iust dimension both of earth and heau'n. 1615 J. Stephens Satyrical Ess. 292 Confounding (like a bad Logician) the forme and the dimention. 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxiv. 208 Whatsoever has dimension, is Body. 1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements i. 29 The dimension of any parallelogram..is found out by this theoreme. 1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 6 He will never rightly describe the dimensions of solid Bodies..his Circles will seem Ovals in Breadth, and his Ovals Circles. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 893 A dark Illimitable Ocean without bound, Without dimension, where length, breadth, and highth, And time and place are lost. View more context for this quotation ?1710 Squire Bickerstaff Detected 4 I..was surpriz'd to find my Gentleman..measuring my Walls, and taking the Dimensions of the Room. 1757 E. Burke Philos. Enq. Sublime & Beautiful ii. §7. 51 Greatness of dimension, is a powerful cause of the sublime. 1772 S. Denne & W. Shrubsole Hist. Rochester 44 All the beams..ought to be of large dimensions. 1850 R. W. Emerson Shakspeare in Representative Men v. 204 That imagination which dilates the closet he writes in to the world's dimension. 1893 Law Times 95 104/2 Posts of the dimensions of 3 in. by 2½ in. figurative.1661 E. Hickeringill Jamaica 51 The Expedition against Hispaniola;..The Dimensions of this great Preparation vastly exceeding the difficulties.1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine i. 106 The Afflictions of his Soul..were of a higher Dimension in the Garden.1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Oct. 2/3 That passion for athletics which in Oxford has now almost reached the dimensions of a mania. †b. transferred. Extension in time, duration. ΘΚΠ the world > time > duration > [noun] lengtha1240 date?1316 durationc1384 hautesse1399 quantity?a1425 periodc1475 tracta1513 allowance1526 continuance1530 wideness1535 continue1556 protense1590 countenance1592 stay1595 standing1600 dimension1605 longanimity1607 longinquity1607 insisture1609 existence1615 unprivationa1628 continuity1646 protension1654 measure1658 course1665 contention1666 propagation1741 protensity1886 1605 L. Andrewes Serm. II. 170 The cross..is mors prolixa, a death of dimensions, a death long in dying. a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iv. ii. 308 We have no reason to imagin that the sixth day was of any other dimension than the seventh day. c. figurative. Any of the component aspects of a particular situation, etc., esp. one newly discovered; an attribute of, or way of viewing, an abstract entity. Cf. aspect n. 9, 12. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > constituent part or component > aspect of an abstract entity visagec1374 sidea1393 respecta1398 facet1808 prong1859 parameter1927 dimension1929 1929 R. S. Lynd & H. M. Lynd Middletown xviii. 263 Like the automobile, the motion picture is more to Middletown than simply a new way of doing an old thing; it has added new dimensions to the city's leisure. 1952 Times 1 Aug. 7/3 It is in helping nations to provide the material for their own or for one another's defence, instead of having it provided direct from America, that the value of off-shore purchasing lies. Here, in another dimension, is the principle of ‘trade, not aid’. 1956 R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond xxv. 287 A dimension has been taken out of my life, leaving it flat, not rich and rounded. 1961 A. O. J. Cockshut Imagination of Charles Dickens xi. 158 The religious dimension, which would have given coherence and deeper meaning to the withered and touching scraps of virtue displayed by Flora and Mrs. Plornish, and even by Mrs. Clennam—a triumph of fairness—this is absent. 1973 P. White Eye of Storm vi. 237 This work of ours..will add another dimension to the art of theatre. 1985 Times 24 Jan. 14/4 The effect of ‘sub-clinical’ nutrient deficiencies too small to cause acute illness is another elusive dimension. 3. Mathematics. a. Geometry. A mode of linear measurement, magnitude, or extension, in a particular direction; usually as co-existing with similar measurements or extensions in other directions.The three dimensions of a body, or of ordinary space, are length, breadth, and thickness (or depth); a surface has only two dimensions (length and breadth); a line only one (length). Here the notion of measurement or magnitude is commonly lost, and the word denotes merely a particular mode of spatial extension. Modern mathematicians have speculated as to the possibility of more than three dimensions of space. ΘΚΠ the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun] > a) dimension(s) dimension1413 quantity1590 metings1674 the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > longitudinal extent > [noun] lenghc888 longnessOE length1154 dimension1413 sideness1422 longitude?a1425 prolixity?a1425 distance1582 longity1604 distent1613 protension1704 sidth1831 the world > relative properties > number > geometry > geometric space > [noun] > division or marking of dimension1413 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) v. xiv. 107 Ther is no body parfit withouten thre dymensions, that is breede, lengthe, and depnesse. c1430 Art Nombryng (1922) 14 A lyne hathe but one dymensioun that is to sey after the lengthe..a superficialle thynge hathe .2. dimensions, þat is to sey lengthe and brede. 1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 1 There pertaine to quantitie three dimensions, length, bredth, & thicknes. 1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. ii. 14 These two Dimensions..are length and breadth, whereof euery plaine figure, or superficies consists. 1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 100 All physical magnitude must have three dimensions, length, breadth, and thickness. 1858 W. Whewell Hist. Sci. Ideas ii. viii. §4–5 Time is conceived as a quantity of one dimension..Indeed the analogy between time, and space of one dimension, is so close, that the same terms are applied to both ideas. 1858 W. Whewell Hist. Sci. Ideas ii. vi The eye..sees length and breadth, but no third dimension. In order to know that there are solids, we must infer as well as see. 1873 W. K. Clifford Pure Sci. in Contemp. Rev. Oct. (1874) 716 Out of space of two dimensions, as we call it, I have made space of three dimensions. 1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe vii. §220. 221 Suppose our (essentially three-dimensional) matter to be the mere skin or boundary of an Unseen whose matter has four dimensions. b. Algebra. Since the product of two, or of three, quantities, each denoting a length (i.e. a magnitude of one dimension), represents an area or a volume (i.e. a magnitude of two, or of three, dimensions), such products themselves are said to be of so many dimensions; and generally, the number of dimensions of a product is the number of the (unknown or variable) quantities contained in it as factors (known or constant quantities being reckoned of no dimensions); any power of a quantity being of the dimensions denoted by its index. (Thus x³, x²y, xyz are each of three dimensions.) The dimensions of an expression or equation are those of the term of highest dimensions in it. (The number of dimensions corresponds to the degree of a quantity or equation: see degree n. 13.) ΚΠ 1557 R. Record Whetstone of Witte sig. Hii The nomber that doeth amounte thereof (3 × 3 × 3) hath gotten 3. dimensiones, whiche properly belongeth to a bodie, or sound forme. And therfore is it called a Cube, or Cubike nomber. 1690 W. Leybourn Cursus mathematicus 334 Every Power hath so many Dimensions as the Letters wherewith it is written. 1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 40 The Quantity produc'd by the Multiplication of Two, Three, etc. Quantities, is said to be of Two, Three, etc. Dimensions. 1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 190 To find the Greatest Common Measure of the Terms of a Fraction..Range the quantities according to the dimensions of some letters. c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 476/1 When the..equations are..of two dimensions. c. [ < French dimension (J. B. J. Fourier Théorie anal. de la Chaleur (1822) ii. §ix. 154).] The power to which any one of the fundamental quantities or units is raised in the expression defining a derived quantity or unit in terms of them; also (in plural), all the fundamental quantities in such an expression, each raised to its appropriate power, which together show how the unit of the derived quantity depends on the fundamental units; method of dimensions, dimensional analysis. The ‘fundamental quantities’ are usually taken to be mass, length, and time, with the addition of one or more other quantities in certain cases (such as electrical and magnetic phenomena). ΚΠ 1864 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1863 132 The value of a force is directly proportional to a length and a mass, but inversely proportional to the square of a time. This is expressed by saying that the dimensions of a force are LM/T². 1877 Ld. Rayleigh Theory of Sound I. iii. 47 From the necessity of a complete enumeration of all the quantities on which the required result may depend, the method of dimensions is somewhat dangerous. 1878 A. Freeman tr. J. B. J. Fourier Anal. Theory Heat ii. 128 Every undetermined magnitude or constant has one dimension proper to itself, and..the terms of one and the same equation could not be compared, if they had not the same exponent of dimension. We have introduced this consideration..in order to make our definitions more exact, and to serve to verify the analysis. 1878 A. Freeman tr. J. B. J. Fourier Anal. Theory Heat ii. 129 The dimensions of x, t, v with respect to the unit of time are 0, 1, 0, and those of K, h, c are −1, −1, 0. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 736/2 Velocity is of +1 dimension in length and −1 dimension in time. 1925 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 50 32 The dimensions of the viscosity, η, are ML⁻¹T⁻¹, of the density, ρ, ML⁻³, whilst σ/σ′ is of no dimensions. 1925 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 50 31 Much information can be obtained concerning F by means of the method of dimensions. 1933 A. W. Porter (title) The method of dimensions. 1960 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. IV. 197/2 Quantities with the same dimensions can be expressed in the same units. 1964 H. S. Hvistendahl Engin. Units i. 7 For example, in the case of force, the term ‘dimensions’ is now generally understood to mean LMT⁻², and not merely 1, 1, −2. 1969 L. Young Syst. Units Electr. & Magn. i. 7 Area has dimensions of length squared; denoting ‘dimensions of’ by square brackets, we write [A] = [L]². 1970 Nature 29 Aug. 935/2 In SI units the constant μ₀ = 4π × 10⁻⁷ is indispensable in many formulae, if the dimensions are to balance. †4. Measurable form or frame; plural material parts, as of the human body; ‘proportions’. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > [noun] featurec1325 making1340 staturec1380 statea1387 bonea1400 figurec1400 makec1425 corpulence1477 corsage1481 makdom1488 mouldc1550 corporature1555 frame1566 dimension1600 limit1608 set1611 timber1612 compact1646 taille1663 fabric1695 moulding1815 physique1826 tournure1827 build1832 form1849 body type1866 body build1907 somatotype1940 size1985 the world > life > the body > part of body > [noun] limbc1000 partyc1300 feature1393 member?a1400 partc1400 dimension1600 site1861 1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. i. 55 Hath not a Iewe hands, organs, dementions, sences, affections, passions. 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear ii. 7 My dementions are as well compact, my mind as generous, and my shape as true. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. v. 250 I..know him noble..And in dimension, and the shape of nature, A gracious person. View more context for this quotation 1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. viii. 28 The Humbird is..no bigger than a Hornet, yet hath all the demensions of a Bird, as bill, and wings, with quills, spider-like legges, small clawes. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 793 In thir own dimensions like themselves The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim In close recess and secret conclave sat. View more context for this quotation figurative.a1652 A. Wilson Hist. Great Brit. (1653) 162 The younger having all the Dimensions of a Courtier.1660 E. Waterhouse Disc. Arms & Armory 28 Nations, whose polity had all the dimensions of order in it. Compounds dimension lines n. straight lines usually having an arrow at each end, indicating the parts or lines to which the figured dimensions refer in a technical drawing. dimension-lumber n., dimension-timber n., dimension-stone n. i.e. that which is cut to specified dimensions or size. dimension-work n. masonry built of ‘dimension-stones’. (Chiefly U.S.) ΚΠ a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) vii. 120 The modern houses built of what is called ‘dimension timber’, imported from Maine, all ready to be set up. 1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Dimension Lumber, lumber sawed to specific sizes to order. 1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing 5 Dimension lines and centre lines are best put in of different colour. 1902 P. Marshall Metal Working Tools 18 The marking of dimension lines on metal surfaces is generally done with a steel scriber. 1927 G. E. Draycott Technical Drawing xii. 184 No dimension line should run closer than ¼″ to a line to which it is parallel. 1961 H. F. Bellis & W. A. Schmidt Archit. Drafting xiii. 81/2 Use a 2H pencil for extension and dimension lines. Draft additions September 2018 Mathematics. Originally: the minimum number of independent coordinates needed to specify a point of a particular geometric or topological space. In later use also more generally: any of various quantities assigned to certain types of space or object as a measure of a property analogous to size or extent.Frequently with modifying word, as Hausdorff dimension, Krull dimension, etc.One of the most commonly encountered notions of dimension in this sense is that of a vector space, in which context the dimension is the number of vectors required to form a basis (basis n. Additions) for that space. ΚΠ 1914 F. E. Wood Coordinate Syst. in One & Two Dimensions (M.A. thesis, Univ. of Kansas) 8 The number of coordinates necessary to determine the given r-space will equal the dimension of the n-space when the r-space is taken as the element. 1946 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 59 24 Any closed subset of E has a Hausdorff dimension of order α + ε equal to zero. 1970 Ann. Math. 91 26 If R is a ring, dim R denotes the Krull dimension of R. 2011 I. Stewart Math. of Life x. 150 The dimension of a space is the number of independent coordinates needed to specify the things that belong to it. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online December 2020). dimensionv. Etymology: < dimension n.Previous versions of the OED give the stress as: diˈmension. 1. transitive. To measure or space out; to reduce to measurement. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measure [verb (transitive)] > measure or mark off gaugec1420 dimension1754 to mark off1803 1754 H. Walpole Lett. I. 335 I propose to break and enliven it by compartments in colours, according to the enclosed sketch, which you must adjust and dimension. 2. transitive. To mark the dimensions on (a working drawing, diagram, or sketch). Chiefly in past participle and participial adjective. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > make plan or diagram of [verb (transitive)] > mark dimensions dimension1885 1885 Marine Engineer Apr. 27/1 Twenty-five large plates of fully dimensioned drawings. 1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing 5 Many a good drawing has its appearance spoiled through being slovenly dimensioned. 1892 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing 99 Rough dimensioned sketches. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 28 July 2/1 All parts being carefully illustrated by dimensioned drawings. 1907 Installation News Oct. 1/2 Diagrams are more valuable when dimensioned. 1927 G. E. Draycott Technical Drawing xiv. 219 (heading) Inking-in and dimensioning drawings. 1966 G. K. Stegman & H. J. Stegman Archit. Drafting ix. 211/1 A modular detail requires fewer small fractional dimensions than a detail dimensioned in the regular method. Derivatives diˈmensioning n. the action of marking dimensions; the dimension lines, etc., on a drawing. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] projection1551 protraction1559 stereography1700 planning1730 planography1847 dimensioning1966 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) IV. 611/1 Working types of drawings may differ in styles of dimensioning. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online June 2019). < n.1413v.1754
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dimensionn.

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Draft additions September 2018

dimensionv.

Derivatives