Etymology

latus rectum

Today it means: The chord passing through a focus of a conic section, parallel to the directrix and terminated both ways by the curve. It is the parameter of the principal axis. Full definition →

Latin latus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromlatus“side”
  2. English todaylatus rectum

Latin latus (“side”) + rectum (“right”)

Words from the same roots

Latinlatus all →

latuslatisternal

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.