rhomboidn.adj.

Brit.

/ˈrɒmbɔɪd/, U.S.

/ˈrɑmˌbɔɪd/

Forms: 1500s rhomboïd, 1600s rhomboeid, 1600s–1700s romboid, 1600s– rhomboid, 1700s rhumboid (U.S.).

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French rhomboide; Latin rhomboides.

Etymology: < Middle French rhomboide, French rhomboïde, noun (1542 in geometry, 1575 in anatomy) and adjective (1546 in geometry) and its etymon post-classical Latin rhomboides rhomboides n. Compare also scientific Latin rhomboideus rhomboideus n. With use as adjective compare slightly earlier rhomboidal adj.

A. n.

1. A plane rectilinear figure having four sides and equal opposite angles; spec. one having unequal adjacent sides, as contrasted with a rhombus; an oblique non-equilateral parallelogram; (gen.) something having the shape of or resembling a rhomboid.In non-mathematical contexts often treated as synonymous with rhombus (rhombus n. 2).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > two-dimensional > quadrilateral > rhombus

like-side1551

lozenge1551

rhombus?a1560

rhomboid1570

rhomboides1570

rhomb1578

1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. aiiij^v Rhombe, Rhomboïd, Lunular, Ryng, Serpentine, and such other Geometricall figures.

1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 48 These flakes [of mica]..may be perceived to be terminated naturally with edges of the figure of a Rhomboeid.

1686 Philos. Trans. 1685 (Royal Soc.) 15 1084 Some [crystals] figured like a Rhomb; and others like a Rhomboid.

1789 H. L. Piozzi Observ. Journey France I. 139 The hall of Justice..is two hundred and fifty-six feet long, and eighty-six broad; the form of it a rhomboid.

1818 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (ed. 3) I. xv. 501 When the bees enlarge the diameter of the cells.., the bottoms often consist of two rhomboids and two hexagons.

1853 J. F. W. Herschel Pop. Lect. Sci. (1873) viii. §122. 344 If such a rhomboid be laid down on an inkspot on white paper.

1927 G. Jennison Nat. Hist.: Animals 57 The markings of the Tigon are not stripes, but rhomboids.

1964 L. Langewis & F. A. Wagner Decorative Art in Indonesian Textiles 27 In a certain batik cloth..a centrally placed undecorated area always appears in the form of an elongated rhomboid.

2001 N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 21 Ianto is back standing at the fence in the furthest reaches of the rhomboid of yellow light thrown out by the kitchen window.

2. Chiefly Crystallography and Mineralogy. A rhombohedron; a rhombohedral crystal.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > specific crystal forms > [noun] > rhombohedron

rhomb1685

rhomboid1753

rhombohedron1814

1753 H. Baker Employment for Microscope vi. 41 As soon as the Crystals become discernable by the Microscope, they are either Cubes, or Rhomboids, or Columns, [etc.].

1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 106 That [piece] examined..was a solid rhomboid.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. i. 3 Calcspar may be cloven in three directions oblique to each other; that is, into rhomboids.

1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 28 A rhomboid has no symmetral line.

1927 Harper's Mag. Oct. 650/2 We got blocks for Henry that developed his feeling for rhomboids, cones, and parallelepipedons.

1994 Guardian 14 June (Educ. section) 16/5 This splits the light into two beams which pass through special prisms, known as rhomboids.

3. Anatomy and Zoology. = rhomboideus n. Cf. earlier rhomboides n. 2 and rhomboid muscle n. at Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > structural parts > muscle > muscles of specific parts > [noun] > muscles of neck

gullet-lurker1615

monkshood1615

rhomboides1615

platysma1684

scalenus1704

trapezius muscle1704

trigeminus1706

rhomboid muscle1732

splenius1732

rhomboideus1754

omohyoideus1793

rhomboid1801

sternocleidomastoid1807

scalene muscle1827

complexus1828

omohyoid1846

omothyroid1890

traps1956

scalene1978

1801 A. Scott tr. A. Murray Descr. Arteries Human Body i. 39 In this course, it gives many branches to the rhomboid [L. rhomboidem] and serratus.

1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 370/2 In the horse the levator proprius scapulæ is the anterior part of the rhomboid.

1967 G. M. Wyburn et al. Conc. Anat. i. 3/1 The Rhomboids arise from the spines of the 7th cervical and upper thoracic vertebrae.

2000 Massage Mag. May–June 93/2 Large-curved walking canes you can hook over your shoulder or around under your armpit to work on your trapezius, rhomboids and other hard-to-reach trouble spots.

B. adj.

1. Chiefly Crystallography and Mineralogy. Of a solid figure or object, esp. a crystal: having a rhomboid as a cross-section or base; (esp. of a mineral) having crystals of this form. Cf. rhombic adj. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal systems > [adjective] > orthorhombic

rhombic1671

rhomboid1671

rhomboidal1700

rectangular1837

trimetric1837

orthorhombic1854

prismatic1858

1671 Philos. Trans. 1670 (Royal Soc.) 5 2041 The Figure of this Chrystal stone is like a Rhombick or Rhomboid Prisme.

1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iii.§ ii. 314 The Rhomboid Spar.

1711 B. Allen Nat. Hist. Mineral-waters Great Brit. 11 Brittle Plates, or Flakes..of an equal Superficies, some of which I have seen unform'd, but mostly towards a Rhomboid Form.

1845 G. E. Day tr. J. F. Simon Animal Chem. I. 57 Prisms of the right rhomboid system.

1875 H. C. Wood Treat. Therapeutics (1879) 57 Columbin, a bitter neutral principle crystallizing in rhomboid prisms or needles.

1920 O. F. Hunziker Butter Industry xi. 335 The flake grain represents a thin and flat crystal usually of rhomboid or pyramid form.

1997 Pathol. Internat. 47 578 Tissue contained abundant deposits of rod-shaped to rhomboid crystals.

2. Shaped like or resembling a rhomboid or rhombus. Cf. rhombic adj. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [adjective] > quadrilateral > diamond, lozenge, or rhomb

lozenge-like1551

lozengy1602

diamond-cut1637

diamonded1642

lozenge1658

rhomboidal1658

rhomboideal1677

rhomboid1681

rhombic1701

rhomboidicala1703

star-cut1704

rhombeous1773

rhombed1776

rhombiform1825

lozenge-shaped1833

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [adjective] > two-dimensional > quadrilateral > rhombic

rhomboidal1658

rhomboideal1677

rhomboid1681

rhombic1701

rhomboidicala1703

rhombeous1773

rhombed1776

rhombiform1825

1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iii. v. 308 Something pliable, of a Rhomboid Figure.

1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xlix. 398 Some of these Plants are Spherical, some Romboid.

1793 T. Martyn Lang. Bot. sig. Q6^v Rhomboideum folium, a Rhomboid leaf. Having the opposite sides equal,and the angles not right ones.

1824 J. E. Smith Eng. Flora II. 11 Red Goosefoot. Leaves triangular, somewhat rhomboid.

1877 W. H. Dall Tribes Extreme Northwest 59 Artistic implements of rhomboid or semi-lunar form.

1922 C. Beck in A. J. Ochsner Surg. Diagnosis & Treatm. IV. 632 We obtain a wound of a more or less rhomboid surface.

1992 M. Schaffer-Fehre tr. S. Schaal & W. Ziegler Messel vi. 77 The body is clad in massive, rhomboid scales.

Compounds

C1. Botany. Prefixed to adjectives, forming adjectives with the sense ‘partly rhombic and partly ——’, as rhomboid-oblong, rhomboid-ovate, rhomboid-ovoid. Cf. rhomboidal adj. Compounds 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > part defined by form or function > [adjective] > oval or circular

orbicular1753

suborbicular1753

lance-egged1787

rhomboid?1788

lance-ovala1794

spear-egg-shaped1796

lance-ovate1800

rhombic1805

?1788 J. Abercrombie Gen. Syst. Trees & Shrubs 39/1 A lofty tree, sixty feet high or more; the leaves (smallish) rhomboid-ovate, pointed and doubly-sawed.

1845 J. Lindley School Bot. (1858) vii. 123 Fruit rhomboid-oblong.

1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 315 Leaves..rhomboid-ovoid.

1900 H. L. Keeler Our Native Trees 116 Wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute, terminal leaflets rhomboid-ovate.

2004 A. Weber in K. Kubitzki Families & Genera Vascular Plants VII. 142/1 Leaves with long petiole, elliptic, rhomboid-ovate, rhomboid or suborbicular.

C2.

rhomboid ligament n. Anatomy (now rare) the costoclavicular ligament, which extends between the sternal end of the clavicle and the cartilage of the first rib.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > structural parts > sinew, tendon, or ligament > types of sinew, tendon, or ligament > [noun] > other ligaments of trunk

white line1578

Poupart's ligament1742

fourchette1754

rhomboid ligament1820

transverse ligament1840

Fallopian arch1913

1820 J. Wilson Lect. Struct. & Physiol. Parts Skeleton vi. 137 The rhomboid ligament, extending between the sternum and cartilage of the first rib, adds much to the strength of the connexion.

1923 Lancet 5 May 889/1 The inner fragment of the clavicle is kept in position to some extent by the rhomboid ligament.

2007 E. E. Spencer et al. in J. P. Iannotti & G. R. Williams Disorders Shoulder (ed. 2) II. xxxiii. 1009/2 The costoclavicular (CC) ligament, also called the rhomboid ligament, is short and strong.

rhomboid muscle n. Anatomy and Zoology = rhomboideus n.

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