geometricn.adj.
/ˌdʒiːəˈmɛtrɪk/, /dʒɪəˈmɛtrɪk/, U.S. /ˌdʒiəˈmɛtrɪk/ A. n.
1. In singular and in plural with singular agreement. = geometry n. 1a. rare.
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the world > relative properties > number > geometry > [noun]
geometryc1330
geometric?1547
?1547 A. Borde Pryncyples Astron. Pref. sig. Aii Liberall scyences as gramer retorick logick Arithmetrick geometrick and musick.
1938 Jrnl. Philos. 35 200 The opinion seems to be that different geometrics and arithmetics are possible.
2. A geometrical design or pattern. Chiefly in plural.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [noun] > geometric
checkingc1440
checkc1450
chequer-work1519
pane?a1549
diaper-work1602
chevron1605
diapery1631
fret1664
tooth-work1681
polygram1696
chequer1779
reticulum1797
Grecque1832
checkery1837
gammadion1848
diaper1851
key pattern1853
diapering1866
Greek fret1872
rangoli1884
geometric1894
Greek key1897
step pattern1908
Mondrian1964
1894 Chicago Tribune 27 May 32/1 There are browns, navies, reds, blacks, creams, etc., with just the cutest printings—sprigs, clouds, classics, spots, geometrics, buds, sprays, and what not.
1921 Arts Dec. 150/2 The California of Mrs. Zorach and the Maine of Mr. Zorach are simply patterns, two-dimensional, despite the modern geometrics of the design.
1941 J. Agee & W. Evans Let us now praise Famous Men ii. 163 Pinned all along the edge of this mantel, a broad fringe of white tissue pattern-paper which Mrs. Gudger folded many times on itself and scissored into pierced geometrics of lace.
1990 A. Beatty & M. Sargent Basic Rug Hooking (ed. 2) xi. 115 A background hooked in curves and swirls is suitable for any pattern except a geometric, which requires a static or quiet background.
2004 Daily Tel. 21 June 15/1 From pastel florals to psychedelic circles, swirls and wallpaper geometrics, the new look is all about pattern.
B. adj.
1.
a. = geometrical adj. 1a.
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the world > relative properties > number > geometry > [adjective]
geometricalc1392
geometrialc1550
geometric1609
mathematical1614
mathematica1680
1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica lxvii. 400 The Geometricke ridge of Siluer tride.
1669 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. I i. ii. 16 The overflowing of Nilus..required a Geometric Art for the Division of their lands, when the floud was over.
1750 tr. C. N. Le Cat Physical Ess. Senses 87 The Geometric Method of accounting for the Refractions of Light, is expressed in the Plate.
1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision III. xxxiii. 123 As one, Who versed in geometric lore, would fain Measure the circle.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic x. 339 Thus, the numberless properties of every geometric figure are reduced.
1901 Pop. Sci. Monthly Jan. 258 When we consider the conditions of life in Egypt we can easily see why this particular kind of geometric knowledge so early gained currency.
1952 K. Lorenz King Solomon's Ring (1962) ix. 125 For this animal the geometric axiom that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points simply does not hold good.
2006 C. Frazier Thirteen Moons ii. vi. 107 The canvas coverlid bulged out between the hoops in various geometric shapes.
b. = geometrical adj. 1b.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [adjective] > geometric
diapered?a1400
frettedc1420
checkeryc1440
checkeda1475
diaper1480
chequered1486
lozenged1523
diapery1605
fret1663
lozengy1686
reticulated1753
geometrical1777
reticular1783
geometric1842
Z-shaped1858
chessboard1889
1842 Q. Rev. June 232 This little plot should be laid out, of course, in a simple geometric pattern.
1865 F. B. Palliser Hist. Lace v. 74 The greater part of the conventionally termed Greek lace is really the Venetian reticella; the designs are of geometric fashion, and often of Oriental character.
1886 Peterson's Mag. Apr. 372/2 Voile-laine shows geometric patterns and borderings.
1931 Museum Jrnl. 22 213 The artist had at his disposal monochrome, bichrome and trichrome decorations of pleasing though simple geometric designs.
1962 C. W. Jacobsen Oriental Rugs 233 Kazaks and Karabaghs are thick piled Caucasian rugs. The Kazaks are geometric in design.
2009 Guardian 24 Jan. 8/4 Crop circles..are complex geometric patterns found impressed in field crops and other vegetation.
2. = geometrical adj. 2c. Now historical.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > mile > nautical mile
geometrical1597
maritime mile1632
geometric1670
nautical mile1730
knot1748
nautic mile1762
sea-mile1796
air mile1919
1670 J. Moxon Pract. Perspective 48 The Garden..it contains in length 172 Geometrick Feet.
1745 P. Delany Hist. Acct. Life & Reign David (ed. 3) I. xxvii. 269 From Gilboa to the nearest part of Simeon is more than 110 geometric miles in a direct line.
1759 A. Brice Grand Gazetteer 107/2 A Place where Fishermen used to find 120 Geometric Feet Depth of Water.
1819 J. Horsburgh Mackenzie's Treat. Marine Surv. (rev. ed.) 162 Divide by 6120 the feet in a geometric mile.
1869 Western Monthly July 29/2 How it is a realm so small, measured in geometric feet, can be the source of such exhaustless wealth.
1913 C. Warren Early Weights & Meas. Mankind 95 The ancient geometric mile or minute of arc was 2,020 yards.
3. Mathematics. Relating to or involving quantities in a geometrical progression or showing a constant ratio of each quantity to its successor; exponential. Opposed to arithmetical.First recorded in geometric progression n.Chiefly in set compounds: cf. geometric progression n., geometric proportion n., geometric ratio n., geometric series n. at Compounds.
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1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth iii. 177 Which to how immense a Sum it would arise, those who know any thing of the nature of Geometrick Progressions will easily pronounce.
1701 S. Heynes Treat. Trigonom. (Of Nature & Use of Table of Logarithms) 1 For every Multiplication or Division of the Terms in the Geometric Progression one by another, there is an answerable Addition or Subduction of the Exponents.
1788 J. Bonnycastle Introd. Algebra (ed. 2) 153 The common rule for summing up a finite progression, of a geometric decreasing series.
1825 J. M. F. Wright Solutions Cambr. Probl. 1800–20 I. 512 This series is geometric after the first term, the common ratio being (−½).
1889 F. Galton Nat. Inheritance 239 The true mean is geometric rather than arithmetic.
1946 Bull. Atomic Scientists 1 Oct. 26/1 If the offspring are consistently more numerous than the generation preceding, the population will show geometric increase.
1984 Daily Tel. 5 Nov. 20/2 Any industry that has lived on expectations of geometric growth will be hurt by a slow-down.
2009 El Paso (Texas) Times (Nexis) 21 Nov. For a couple of weeks now, the poundage of catalogs in the mailbox has been increasing at a geometric rate.
4. Horticulture. Designating or relating to a style of gardening characterized by symmetry, formality, and order.The style was popularized in France and reached its height in the 17th cent.
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1794 H. Repton Sketches & Hints on Landscape Gardening Contents Comparison of modern, or Landscape Gardening, and the ancient or geometric Style.
1833 Gardener's Mag. Aug. 385 Maximilian I. had a geometric garden planted in Munich in 1614.
1890 J. Hutchinson Herefordshire Biogr. 88 Mr. Repton was regarded as the successor of Lancelot Brown (Capability Brown), the introducer, or at least the establisher, of the modern or English (as opposed to the French or geometric) style of gardening.
1900 Gardeners' Chron. 18 Aug. 125/1 The more modern type probably was planted during the seventeenth century, when the geometric style of landscape gardening was the universal fashion.
2001 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 6 Sept. r3 Multicursal mazes, with their false paths and dead ends, were developed by landscape architects in the Renaissance as a branch of geometric gardening.
5. Architecture. Designating or relating to a style of English architecture preceding or corresponding to the decorated style (cf. decorated adj. b).
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > style of architecture > [adjective] > decorated
decorated1812
geometrical1838
geometric1845
Middle Pointed1846
1845 Proc. Oxf. Soc. Gothic Archit. Easter & Act Terms 31 The curiously wrought tracery of the Geometric or Flowing Decorated has graceful forms and exquisite proportions.
1846 F. A. Paley Man. Gothic Archit. iii. 107 Very beautiful belfry windows of the geometric period occur at Seaton, Rutland, and Threckingham, Lincolnshire.
1899 R. Glazier Man. Hist. Ornament 39 The aisle windows with mullions and bold geometric tracery.
1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Oct. 636/3 So far as architecture is concerned the book covers three periods, Early English, Geometric, and Early Decorated.
1997 Victorian Soc. Ann. 1996 25/1 Steep, single-framed roofs undoubtedly existed once, before the clerestory was added, and so did the Geometric west window, or something like it.
6. Archaeology. Designating or relating to a period of ancient Greek culture (c900–700 b.c.) characterized by the use of geometrical decoration, esp. for pottery.
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society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [adjective] > specific movement or period
classical1546
pastoral1566
classic1597
Medicean1652
romantic1812
tedesco1814
realistic1829
realista1832
pseudo-classic1833
classicist1838
pseudo-classical1838
renaissant1839
modernist1848
post-classic1850
post-classical1851
pseudo-Gothic1853
classicizing1865
classicistic1866
serio-grotesque1873
geometric1877
neoclassical1877
modernistic1878
neoclassic1878
pseudo-archaic1878
William Morris1883
protocorinthian1884
veristic1884
William and Mary1886
Yuan1888
romanticistic1889
veritistic1894
auto-destructive1895
pre-Romantic1895
Trajanic1906
neo-realistic1909
New Romantic1909
neo-realist1912
futuristic1915
postmodern1916
Dada1918
Dadaist1918
surrealist1918
proto-Romantic1920
expressionistic1921
modernista1924
super-realist1925
superrealistic1925
postmodernist1926
proto-Baroque1926
post-symbolist1927
pre-modernist1927
surrealistic1930
Renaissancist1932
Colonial Revival1934
neo-baroque1935
socialist-realist1935
social realist1949
social realistic1949
kitchen sink1954
William IV1955
formalistic1957
Zhdanovite1957
neo-Dadaist1960
neo-modernist1960
William Morrisy1960
neo-Dada1962
Zhdanovist1966
conceptual1969
conceptualist1973
po-mo1987
pathetic1990
1877 L. P. di Cesnola Cyprus 407 The vases with lozenges, chequers, and other rectilinear patterns present..the nearest approach to the early geometric vases from Athens and other Greek sites.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 572/1 In the remains of the Geometric Age we may trace the influence of the Dorians.
1939 J. D. S. Pendlebury Archaeol. Crete vi. 319 The Geometric pottery of Crete never attained the high standard of the Attic school.
1950 H. L. Lorimer Homer & Monuments ii. 70 Vases in the shape of a pomegranate are fairly frequent in Greek Geometric art.
2007 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 28 June 35/1 There are epitaphs and objects preserved in graves that spring their own surprises, including a Geometric burial at Eleusis.
Compounds
geometric caterpillar n. the caterpillar of a geometrid moth (cf. geometer n. 4).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Geometridae > class of caterpillars > member of
surveyor1682
looper1731
span-worm1820
geometric caterpillar1835
measuring worm1843
span-worm1852
inch-worma1861
measurer1868
loop-worm1880
1835 J. Rennie & J. O. Westwood Nat. Hist. Insects II. iii. 70 Its mode of walking somewhat resembles that of the geometric caterpillars.
1901 A. S. Packard Lamarck 221 Rösel von Rosenhof..describes the resemblance which geometric caterpillars, and also certain moths when in repose, present to dry twigs.
1994 E. Ford & M. Kandel tr. S. Lem Peace on Earth 47 On the assembly line worked robots painted yellow, green, and blue, their articulated arms extending like geometric caterpillars.
geometric isomer n. [after German geometrisches Isomer (see geometrical isomer n. at geometrical adj. and n. Compounds)] Chemistry = geometrical isomer n. at geometrical adj. and n. Compounds.
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1889 Amer. Chem. Jrnl. 11 487 The geometric isomers of the Δ2.5 acid are distinguished by their different solubilities.
1936 Jrnl. Infectious Dis. 59 135 Its geometric isomer, ricinelaidate, is less soluble and also very much less effective.
2003 Washington Post (Nexis) 20 Aug. (Food section) 1 The two different resultant molecules (Techspeak: geometric isomers), even though having identical numbers of hydrogen atoms, behave differently because their shapes are different.
geometric isomerism n. [after German geometrische Isomerie (see geometrical isomerism n. at geometrical adj. and n. Compounds)] Chemistry = geometrical isomerism n. at geometrical adj. and n. Compounds.
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1875 Nature 16 Sept. 440/2 A difference in the geometric structure of the molecule. To this difference he [sc. Wislicenus] gives the name of ‘geometric isomerism’.
1953 Jrnl. Chem. Educ. 30 339/2 The double bond in [compound] XXV, for example, is capable of giving rise to..geometric isomerism.
2008 Polyhedron 27 2710/1 The reason to study the stereochemistry and geometric isomerism of square-planar complexes.
geometric jasper n. Mineralogy rare (now historical) = chiastolite n. a.
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1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iii. 291 A Geometrick jasper.
1947 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 103 77 Chiastolite... Other authors more reasonably call it ‘geometric jasper’.
geometric mean n. [ultimately after Hellenistic Greek γεωμετρικὴ μεσότης] Mathematics the middle number in a geometric progression (e.g. 4 in the series 2, 4, 8); (more widely) the nth root of the product of any set of n numbers.Given the two numbers 2 and 8, their geometric mean is the square root of 2 × 8, i. e. 4; given the set of four numbers 2, 4, 5, and 20, the geometric mean is the fourth root of the product 2 × 4 × 5 × 20 (= 800), i.e. approx. 5.32.
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1701 S. Heynes Treat. Trigonom. (Of Nature & Use of Table of Logarithms) 2 If between 4 and 8 (or between 2 and 16) we interpose a Geometric Mean √32.
1881 J. Casey Sequel to Euclid 88 The Arithmetic mean is to the Geometric mean as the Geometric mean is to the Harmonic mean.
1991 D. T. Sawyer Oxygen Chem. iii. 53 For the HCl molecule..the covalent portion of the bond energy is assumed to be equal to the geometric mean of the covalent bond energies for H2.
2008 Australian (Nexis) 24 July (Finance section) 23 One issue identified was the use of arithmetic means in calculating gains or losses, in contrast to the more usual international practice of using geometric means.
geometric pen n. now rare a mechanical instrument for use in drawing curved or intricate patterns.The instrument consists of a tripod that is stood on the paper; from it is suspended a short shaft bearing a horizontal arm with sliding members and cogged wheels, and with the pen at the tip.
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1791 G. Adams Geom. & Graphical Ess. p. ii Suardi's geometric pen, an instrument not known in this country..whose curious properties will exercise the ingenuity of mechanics and mathematicians.
1829 Mechanics' Mag. 30 May 243/1 I derived no assistance from the geometric pen; for I did not even know there was such an instrument.
1909 Nature 25 Nov. 96/2 Mr. Richard Kerr describes a form of geometric pen, capable of producing very beautiful patterns.
1960 Pop. Sci. Sept. 16/2 We don't care if it is a rose engine or a geometric pen, it works.
geometric proportion n. Mathematics = geometrical proportion n.
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1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 57 In any Geometric Proportion, when the Antecedent is less than the Consequent, the Terms may be express'd by a and ar.
1816 Encycl. Perthensis (ed. 2) XXI. 259/1 The corresponding specific gravities will all so be in geometric proportion.
1922 Elem. School Jrnl. 22 596 The schools as now organized will be rewarded with increases in pupil-promotion at an arithmetic rate where effort and zeal are applied in geometric proportion.
2004 S. Guarro & W. E. Vesely in L. B. Rainey Space Modeling & Simulation x. 387 Computer run times that grow in geometric proportion to the number of variables to be randomized.
geometric ratio n. Mathematics = geometrical ratio n.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > set > sequence > progression
progressionc1450
arithmetical progression1553
geometrical progression1557
geometric progression1696
geometric ratio1736
arithmetical ratio1798
geometrical ratio1798
arithmetic progression1886
harmonic series1964
1736 J. Hodgson Doctr. Fluxions iii. ii. 278 The extream Point is carried towards F, with a Velocity, in a Geometric Ratio of the same Time.
1830 M. T. Sadler Law of Population I. iii. 59 In further consideration of this geometric ratio, I observe that Mr. Malthus..has exemplified his meaning, if not, as he supposes, demonstrated its truth.
1910 Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 461 Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of ten thousand, by the ratio of two numbers, is meant the geometric ratio or the quotient of one by the other.
2009 Leicester Mercury (Nexis) 12 May 14 His [sc. Malthus'] argument was that people increase in geometric ratio, while food only in arithmetical ratio.
geometric series n. [compare geometrical series n. at geometrical adj. and n. Compounds] Mathematics a series of quantities which constitute a geometric progression.
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1723 J. Hodgson Syst. Math. I. iii. xxv. 656 2 the second Term in the Geometric Series, multiplied by 4 the third Term produces 8.
1857 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. (ed. 3) II. 422 The elasticity proceeds in a geometric series.
1913 Amer. Math. Monthly 20 6 Napier based his explanations upon..the relations which exist between arithmetic and geometric series.
2006 Ecology 87 2898/1 The scale of analysis progresses as a geometric series, typically doubling at each level of analysis.
geometric spider n. now rare a spider which constructs a flat vertical web; an orb-weaver; esp. the European garden spider, Araneus diadematus.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > suborder Labidognatha or Dipneumones > member of family Argiopidae
retiary spider1658
geometrical spider1815
geometric spider1815
retiary1835
Epeirid1881
orb-weaver1883
magnificent spider1936
orb-web spider1945
orb spider1983
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. I. 414 The nets of the geometric spiders are in favourable weather renewed either wholly, or at least their concentric circles, every twenty-four hours.
1878 Daily News 24 Oct. 6/4 The common garden or geometric spider is now to be seen abundantly.
1919 W. H. Hudson Birds in Town & Village 208 There sits the solitary geometric spider, an image and embodiment of patience, not on a monument, but a suspended wheel of which he is himself the hub.
1967 Aquarist Mar. 263/1 The water spider..commences to spin a web between two closely growing stems. Unlike the web of the familiar geometric spider of our gardens, this one is closely spun and constructed on a horizontal plane.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.?1547