Skip to main content
Platonic body

Platonic body

9.7
A solid with the same flat faces and equal angles, like a cube
  • noun
  • /pləˈtɒnɪk ˈbɒdi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cuerpo platónico
  • The cube is a classic example of a Platonic body because all its faces are squares and its angles are equal.

Examples

  • The Platonic bodies include tetrahedrons and cubes.

  • A Platonic body has identical faces and angles.

  • Sixty-four small marbles were placed inside a transparent Platonic body to demonstrate its symmetry to the class.

  • The ancient Greeks believed that each Platonic body was associated with one of the classical elements.

  • The cube is a well-known Platonic body with six square faces that are all equal.

  • In geometry class, we studied various Platonic bodies, including the tetrahedron and dodecahedron.

  • A Platonic body is defined by having faces that are all the same regular polygon and angles that are equal.

Synonyms

polyhedron
vsPlatonic body
  • Specialized
1 7.8

A solid shape with flat faces made from straight-sided shapes, like a cube

is much narrower meaning only the five regular convex special cases
Platonic solid
vsPlatonic body
  • Specialized
1 9.0

A 3D shape with all the same regular flat faces, like a cube or tetrahedron

is simply the alternate traditional term for the same shapes
regular convex polyhedron
vsPlatonic body
  • Specialized
9.9

A solid with the same flat faces that are regular polygons and with all angles the same

is the same technical description but used in scientific contexts
regular polyhedron
vsPlatonic body
  • Specialized
8.6

A solid shape with identical flat faces that are regular polygons like a cube

is equivalent but often emphasizes the regularity property explicitly
regular convex solid
vsPlatonic body
  • Specialized
9.0

A three-dimensional shape whose faces are the same flat shapes with all sides equal and equal angles between them

is the same concept phrased as a geometric figure
ideal solid
vsPlatonic body
  • Specialized
8.3

A three-dimensional shape with identical regular flat faces, like a cube

is the same set of shapes but named differently in some texts
convex polyhedron
vsPlatonic body
  • Specialized
8.8

A solid shape with flat faces where any line between two points inside stays inside, for example a cube

is narrower referring only to the five fully regular convex examples

Surface Forms

Platonic body singular

Morphology

Platonic + body

Combining 'Platonic' (relating to Plato's ideal forms) with 'body' (a three-dimensional object) yields a comprehensible idea of an ideal or perfectly regular 3D object, so a learner who knows the constituents will grasp a general sense. However, the precise technical meaning — that it denotes one of the five specific regular convex polyhedra (Platonic solids) — is specialized and not fully predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

Platonic body comes from the Greek thinker Plato, who and his students liked a few 'perfect' solid shapes with all faces the same and the angles at each corner equal. The word Platonic links it to Plato and the word body points to a solid shape. So Platonic body now means one of those regular, 'perfect' three-dimensional shapes.