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regular polygon

regular polygon

4.2
A flat shape with all sides the same length and all angles equal
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛɡjələr ˈpɒlɪɡən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : polígono regular
  • To draw a regular polygon, ensure that each side is the same length and all angles are equal.

Does anybody know what is so special about a regular Polygon they would want to raise their hand?

Examples

  • A square is a type of regular polygon because all its sides and angles are equal.

  • Does anybody know what is so special about a regular Polygon they would want to raise their hand?

  • These features make the families of regular polygons P(N) good candidates in the search for invariant polytopes.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Moreover, regular polygons induce ray partitions where the angles between consecutive rays are equal, and there is a regular simplicial decomposition in equilateral triangles.

    Academic text (2010)
  • In geometry, a triangle can be classified as a regular polygon if all three sides are of equal length.

How Many

octagon
7 3.3
regular hexagon
  • Specialized
3.4
regular polygon
  • Specialized
4.2
regular pentagon
  • Specialized
3.7
square
454 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

regular + polygon

The meaning is directly compositional: a learner who knows 'regular' (evenness/symmetry) and 'polygon' (a multi-sided flat shape) can infer a polygon with equal sides/angles. This is a standard, cross-linguistically mirrored construction (e.g., Spanish 'polígono regular'), so the sense is immediately derivable from its constituents.

Etymology

Regular polygon comes from old words that mean 'many' and 'angle': polygon combines the ideas of 'many' and 'angle', and regular means 'even' or 'following a rule'. So a regular polygon is a many-sided shape where every side and every angle follows the same rule, which is why it means a shape with all sides and angles equal.