polytope

pol·y·tope
P3O1L1Y4T1O1P3E1
UK/ˈpɒlɪˌtəʊp/UK/ˈpɒliːˌtəʊp/US/ˈpɑliˌtoʊp/

noun

A geometric shape (of any number of dimensions) which is fully enclosed and has flat sides, making it a member of the generalized class of shapes which includes the two-dimensional polygon and three-dimensional polyhedron; (formally) a finite region of n-dimensional space bounded by hyperplanes.

UncommonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounpolytope (plural polytopes)

plural polytopes

  1. geometryA geometric shape (of any number of dimensions) which is fully enclosed and has flat sides, making it a member of the generalized class of shapes which includes the two-dimensional polygon and three-dimensional polyhedron; (formally) a finite region of n-dimensional space bounded by hyperplanes.

    As is well known, the theory of linear inequalities is closely related to the study of convex polytopes.

    1964, Victor Klee, On the Number of Vertices of a Convex Polytope: Canadian Journal of Mathematics, volume XVI, number 4, page 701
    2 more examples

    This polytope is mapped into a Cartesian force polytope (resp. torque polytope) in the Cartesian space. Such a polytope represents the exact force (resp. torque) that can be produced on the vehicle main body.

    1998, F. Pierrot, M. Benoit, P. Dauchez, “SamoS: A Pythagorean Solution for Omnidirectional Underwater Vehicles”, in Jadran Lenar I, Manfred L. Husty, editors, Advances in Robot Kinematics: Analysis and Control, page 220

    Verify the Hirsch conjecture for the 3-cube, 4-cube and any other polytope that takes your fancy. The Steinitz theorem is a very satisfactory understanding of the graphs of three-dimensional polytopes.

    2006, Rekha R. Thomas, Lectures in Geometric Combinatorics, page 27

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekτόπος“region; area”
  2. GermanPolytop
  3. Englishpolytope

Learned borrowing from German Polytop, originally coined by German mathematician Reinhold Hoppe in 1882, and first used in English by British mathematician Alicia Boole Stott in her 1910 paper Geometrical deduction of semiregular from regular polytopes and space fillings. By surface analysis, poly- (“many”) + -tope (“surface”), from Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos, “region; area”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan polítop
  • polítopgeometric shape
Chinese Mandarin 多胞形
  • 多胞形 (duōbāoxíng)geometric shape
Esperanto hiperpluredro
  • hiperpluredrogeometric shape
French polytope
  • polytopegeometric shape
German Polytop
  • Polytopgeometric shape
Greek πολύτοπο
  • πολύτοπο (polýtopo)geometric shape
Hungarian politóp
  • politópgeometric shape
Italian politopo
  • politopogeometric shape
Japanese ポリトープ, 超多面体
  • ポリトープ (poritōpu)geometric shape
  • 超多面体 (chōtamentai)geometric shape
Korean 다포체
  • 다포체 (dapoche)geometric shape
Persian چندبر
  • چندبرgeometric shape
Polish wielotop, wielokomórka
  • wielotopgeometric shape
  • wielokomórkageometric shape
  • politopgeometric shape
Portuguese politopo
  • politopogeometric shape
Russian полито́п
  • полито́п (politóp)geometric shape
Spanish politopo
  • politopogeometric shape
Swedish polytop
  • polytopgeometric shape
Ukrainian політо́п
  • політо́п (politóp)geometric shape
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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