Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
⬆️ Causing expansion 📐 Geometric scaling
dilatational

dilatational

9.8
A change that multiplies distances from a fixed center
  • adjective
  • /ˌdɪləˈteɪʃənl/
  • Specialized
: dilatacional
  • A dilatational change in the figure increased all distances from the center by a factor of three.

Examples

  • The mathematician explained the dilatational properties of the transformation to the students.

  • In geometry, dilatational transformations are important.

  • Engineers studied the dilatational effects on the material when subjected to uniform expansion.

  • The dilatational effect on the material was significant.

  • The mathematician explained the dilatational properties of geometric transformations that stretch figures from a center point.

  • A dilatational change in the shape resulted in all distances being multiplied by a constant factor.

  • Engineers examined the dilatational changes in dimensions during the thermal expansion of the materials.

Surface Forms

dilatational positive

Morphology

dilatational = dilatation (semi-transparent) = dilat + ation + al

The word is still built regularly from 'dilatation' plus '-al', but the geometric sense is a specialized technical application.

Etymology

Dilatational comes from the same root dilate, which means 'spread out', and this gives a simple picture in math: points move away from a centre. So a dilatational change in geometry makes every point move away from the centre in the same way, making the whole shape bigger but keeping its form.