Meanings
nounapothem (plural apothems)
plural apothems
- geometryThe perpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord of the same circle.
- geometryThe distance from the center of a regular polygon perpendicular to one of its sides (a special case of the above).
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀπόθεμα“deposit”
- Englishapothem
From Ancient Greek ἀπόθεμα (apóthema, “deposit”), from ἀπό (apó, “off, away”) + θέμα (théma, “that which is laid down”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian апотема
- апотема (apotema)the distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Catalan apotema, apotema
- apotemaperpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- apotemathe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Chinese Mandarin 邊心距 /边心距
- 邊心距 /边心距 (biānxīnjù)the distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Finnish apoteema, apoteema
- apoteemaperpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- apoteemathe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
French apothème, apothème
- apothèmeperpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- apothèmethe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
German Inkreisradius, Inkreisradius
- Inkreisradiusperpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- Inkreisradiusthe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Greek απόστημα, απόστημα
- απόστημα (apóstima)perpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- απόστημα (apóstima)the distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Hungarian apotéma
- apotémathe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Indonesian apotema, apotema
- apotemaperpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- apotemathe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Māori toropū hāngai, toropū hāngai
- toropū hāngaiperpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- toropū hāngaithe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Polish apotema, apotema
- apotemaperpendicular distance from the center of a circle to a chord
- apotemathe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Portuguese apótema
- apótemathe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Russian апофе́ма
- апофе́ма (apoféma)the distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Spanish apotema
- apotemathe distance from the center of a polygon to a side
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
apothem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apothem
MLA
“apothem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apothem. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “apothem,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apothem.
Source: apothem on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.