hypotenuse

6 5.3

The longest side in a right triangle opposite the right angle

noun
/haɪˈpɒtənjuːs/

Specialized

: hipotenusa

At this point, we are often moved to ask the students whether they learned in school the Pythagorean theorem (i.e., the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of its two adjacent sides).
square of the hypotenuse
hypotenuse of a triangle
hypotenuse side

And then this side that the path takes is the hypotenuse of the triangle.

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Examples

So let's say we wanted to compute the hypotenuse of a right triangle with side lengths A&B.
C is always the hypotenuse and A&B are the the legs of the triangle that are on either side of the right angle.
And then this side that the path takes is the hypotenuse of the triangle.

WIRED
Over here, your adjacent to this side, your opposite is down here, and your hypotenuse is the longest side.
There are three sides to a right triangle relative to each angle: the hypotenuse, adjacent, and the opposite side.

Academic text (2011)
Sine A equals BC over AB equals the perpendicular over the hypotenuse.

if.... (1968)
Sine = Opposite/Hypotenuse.

Academic text (2011)
At the same time, it was taken as a given that one could function perfectly well in society even if one did not know that James Buchanan was the only U.S. president from Pennsylvania, that NaCl was the chemical makeup of salt, and that the side opposite the right angle of a triangle is the hypotenuse.

Academic text (2003)
For Toussaint's text opens with an epigraph, a statement of the Pythagorean theorem: that given a triangle, the hypotenuse squared is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

Academic text (1997)
In a right triangle, the longest side is called the hypotenuse.

Synonyms

hyp

vshypotenuse

Specialized

9.9

The longest side of a right-angled triangle

is the full written form rather than a shortened abbreviation

Surface Forms

hypotenuse singular

hypotenuses plural

Etymology

The word hypotenuse comes from Greek parts hypo- 'under' and a root meaning 'to stretch', the same idea you see in English tension ('stretch'). So the hypotenuse is the side 'stretched under' the right angle, which explains why it sits opposite that angle.