secondary diagonal

6.8

A line of numbers in a square grid that runs from the bottom left to the top right

noun

Specialized

: diagonal secundaria

In a matrix, the secondary diagonal runs from bottom left to top right.

Examples

She highlighted both the main and secondary diagonal for clarity during her lecture.
The sum of the secondary diagonal is often used in matrix computations.
In this 3x3 matrix, the secondary diagonal contains the elements 3, 5, and 7.
The secondary diagonal is important.
In this 3x3 matrix, the secondary diagonal contains the elements 3, 5, and 7.
She highlighted both the main and secondary diagonal for clarity during her lecture.
In a matrix, the secondary diagonal runs from bottom left to top right.

Antonyms

main diagonal

Specialized

5.8

The line of numbers in a square table from the top left to the bottom right

Surface Forms

secondary diagonal singular

secondary diagonals plural

Morphology

secondary + diagonal

The meaning is directly compositional: 'diagonal' names a line joining opposite corners and 'secondary' signals the non-primary/other one, so a learner knowing both terms can infer it refers to the other diagonal (bottom-left to top-right). This follows standard adjective + noun composition and is cross-linguistically common, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The term secondary diagonal names the diagonal in a square grid of numbers that runs from the bottom-left corner to the top-right corner. Here secondary means 'the other' diagonal, not the main one, and diagonal means a slanting line, so the name shows which slant of numbers we mean.