hippogonal

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/hɪˈpɒɡənəl/

adjective

Being a move in a board game that is neither orthogonal nor diagonal, as a knight's move in chess. In chess, an (m,n) move spans m squares in one of the orthogonal directions and n squares in a perpendicular direction; the move is hippogonal if m and n are not equal and both greater than zero: 0 < n < m.

OriginAncient Greek ἵππος →
Scrabble 18
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Meanings

adjectivehippogonal (not comparable)
  1. not comparableBeing a move in a board game that is neither orthogonal nor diagonal, as a knight's move in chess. In chess, an (m,n) move spans m squares in one of the orthogonal directions and n squares in a perpendicular direction; the move is hippogonal if m and n are not equal and both greater than zero: 0 < n < m.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekἵππος“horse, cavalry”
  2. Englishhippogonal

The word was coined by David Parlett. It derives from Ancient Greek ἵππος (híppos, “horse, cavalry”) [a synonym in chess for knight] and γωνία (gōnía, “angle”).

More words from Ancient Greek

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with hippogonal

monogonalzerogonal
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

hippogonal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippogonal

MLA

“hippogonal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippogonal. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hippogonal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hippogonal.

Source: hippogonal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.