trapezium

tra·pe·zi·um
T1R1A1P3E1Z10I1U1M3
/tɹəˈpiː.zi.əm/US, also/tɹæˈpi.zi.əm/

noun

A quadrilateral with two sides parallel.

Similar
trapezoidirregular quadrilateraltrapezetrapezium boneos trapezium
Opposite
parallelogram
OriginLate Latin trapezium ← Ancient Greek τρᾰπέζῐον (trăpézĭon) ← Proto-Indo-European *tr̥-ped-ih₂- →
UncommonScrabble 22
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nountrapezium (plural trapeziums or trapezia)

plural trapeziums · plural trapezia

  1. AustraliaNew ZealandUKgeometryA quadrilateral with two sides parallel.
    1. AustraliaNew ZealandUKgeometryA quadrilateral with two sides parallel and two sides non-parallel.
  2. USdatedgeometryA four-sided polygon with no parallel sides and no sides equal; a simple convex irregular quadrilateral.

    Synonyms: trapezoid, trapezoid, irregular quadrilateral

  3. anatomyThe trapezium bone of the wrist.
  4. A region on the ventral side of the brain, either just back of the pons Varolii, or, as in man, covered by the posterior extension of its transverse fibers.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA four-sided polygon with no parallel sides and no sides equal; a simple convex irregular quadrilateral.

Similar
trapezoidtrapezoidirregular quadrilateral
Similar
trapeze

More synonyms by meaning

nouna quadrilateral with no parallel sides

Opposite
parallelogram
Broader
quadrilateralquadrangletetragon

nounthe wrist bone on the thumb side of the hand that articulates with the 1st and 2nd metacarpals

Similar
trapezium boneos trapezium
Broader
carpal bonecarpalwrist bone
Also see
trapezium bonetrapezoid

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*tr̥-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ped-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*pṓds
  4. Proto-Indo-European*tr̥-ped-ih₂-
  5. Ancient Greekτράπεζα (trápeza)
  6. Ancient Greekτρᾰπέζῐον (trăpézĭon)
  7. Late Latintrapezium
  8. Englishtrapezium

Learned borrowing from Late Latin trapezium, borrowed from Ancient Greek τρᾰπέζῐον (trăpézĭon, “irregular quadrilateral”, literally “small table”), from τράπεζα (trápeza, “table”) + -ιον (-ion, diminutive suffix). First attested in 1570. Doublet of trapeze.

More words from Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek τραπέζιον, τραπέζιον
  • τραπέζιον (trapézion)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • τραπέζιον (trapézion)polygon with two parallel sides
Arabic مُنْحَرِف, شِكْل مُنْحَرِف
  • مُنْحَرِف (munḥarif)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • شِكْل مُنْحَرِف (šikl munḥarif)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • مُعَيَّن مُنْحَرِف (muʕayyan munḥarif)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • شِبْهُ مُنْحَرِفٍ (šibhu munḥarifin)polygon with two parallel sides
Basque trapezio
  • trapeziopolygon with two parallel sides
Bengali ট্রাপিজিয়াম
  • ট্রাপিজিয়াম (ṭrapijiẏam)polygon with two parallel sides
Bulgarian трапецови́дна ко́ст, трапе́ц
  • трапецови́дна ко́ст (trapecovídna kóst)bone
  • трапе́ц (trapéc)polygon with two parallel sides
Catalan trapezi, trapezi
  • trapezibone
  • trapezipolygon with two parallel sides
Chinese Mandarin 不等邊四邊形 /不等边四边形, 大多角骨
  • 不等邊四邊形 /不等边四边形 (bùděngbiānsìbiānxíng)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • 大多角骨 (dàduōjiǎogǔ)bone
  • 梯形 (tīxíng)polygon with two parallel sides
Czech čtyřúhelník, lichoběžník
  • čtyřúhelníkpolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • lichoběžníkpolygon with two parallel sides
Danish trapez
  • trapezpolygon with two parallel sides
Dutch trapezoïde, trapezium
  • trapezoïdepolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapeziumpolygon with two parallel sides
Esperanto trapezo, trapezo
  • trapezopolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapezopolygon with two parallel sides
Finnish nelikulmio, puolisuunnikas
  • nelikulmiopolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • puolisuunnikaspolygon with two parallel sides
French trapézoïde, trapèze
  • trapézoïdepolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapèzebone
  • trapèzepolygon with two parallel sides
German Trapezoid, Trapez
  • Trapezoidpolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • Trapezpolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • Paralleltrapezpolygon with two parallel sides
  • Trapezpolygon with two parallel sides
Greek τραπέζιο, τραπέζιο
  • τραπέζιο (trapézio)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • τραπέζιο (trapézio)polygon with two parallel sides
Hebrew טְרָפֶּז, טְרָפֶּז
  • טְרָפֶּז (trapéz)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • טְרָפֶּז (trapéz)polygon with two parallel sides
Hindi समलंब, समलम्ब
  • समलंब (samlamb)bone
  • समलम्ब (samlamb)bone
  • समलंब (samlamb)polygon with two parallel sides
  • समलम्ब (samlamb)polygon with two parallel sides
Hungarian trapéz
  • trapézpolygon with two parallel sides
Indonesian trapezoid, trapesium
  • trapezoidpolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapesiumpolygon with two parallel sides
Italian trapezoide, trapezio
  • trapezoidepolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapeziopolygon with two parallel sides
Japanese 不等辺四辺形, 大菱形骨
  • 不等辺四辺形 (futōhenshihenkei)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • 大菱形骨 (dairyōkeikotsu)bone
  • 台形 (daikei)polygon with two parallel sides
  • 梯形 (teikei)polygon with two parallel sides
Korean 부등변사변형, 큰마름뼈
  • 부등변사변형 (budeungbyeonsabyeonhyeong)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • 큰마름뼈 (keunmareumppyeo)bone
  • 대능형골 (daeneunghyeonggol)bone
  • 사다리꼴 (sadarikkol)polygon with two parallel sides
  • 제형 (jehyeong)polygon with two parallel sides
Latin trapezium, trapezoides
  • trapeziumpolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapezoidespolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapezoidespolygon with two parallel sides
  • trapezionpolygon with two parallel sides
  • mensulapolygon with two parallel sides
Latvian trapece
  • trapecepolygon with two parallel sides
Lithuanian trapecija
  • trapecijapolygon with two parallel sides
Māori taparara
  • tapararapolygon with two parallel sides
Persian زنخدار, ذوزنقه
  • زنخدار (zanaxdâr)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • ذوزنقه (zuzanaqe)polygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • ذوزنقه (zuzanaqe)bone
  • زنخدار (zanaxdâr)polygon with two parallel sides
  • ذوزنقه (zuzanaqe)polygon with two parallel sides
Polish trapezoid, kość czworoboczna większa
  • trapezoidpolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • kość czworoboczna większabone
  • trapezpolygon with two parallel sides
Portuguese trapézio, trapézio
  • trapéziobone
  • trapéziopolygon with two parallel sides
Russian трапе́ция
  • трапе́ция (trapécija)polygon with two parallel sides
Spanish trapezoide, trapecio
  • trapezoidepolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapeciobone
  • hueso trapeciobone
  • trapeciopolygon with two parallel sides
Swedish trapetsoid, trapets
  • trapetsoidpolygon with no parallel sides and no equal sides
  • trapetspolygon with two parallel sides
Tagalog tagigapay
  • tagigapaypolygon with two parallel sides
Thai สี่เหลี่ยมคางหมู
  • สี่เหลี่ยมคางหมู (sìi-lìiam-kaang-mǔu)polygon with two parallel sides
Turkish yamuk
  • yamukpolygon with two parallel sides
Vietnamese xương thang, hình thang
  • xương thangbone
  • hình thangpolygon with two parallel sides
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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