Meanings
plural trapezoids
- CanadaUSgeometryA (convex) quadrilateral with two (non-adjacent) parallel sides.
There was a trapezoid of light on his shoulder, some bright fragment torn from a greater plane.
2023, Brandon Taylor, The Late Americans, Jonathan Cape, page 1781 more example
The dining room was closed (this was the height of the pandemic), but peeking through the trapezoid windows, Mr. Pujol, 53, saw the Pizza Hut of his childhood.
2026 March 3, Steven Kurutz, “That Red Roof! Those Tiffany Lamps! It’s a Pizza Hut From the Past.”, in The New York Times, →ISSNSynonyms: trapezium
- AustraliaNew ZealandUKgeometryA convex quadrilateral with no sides parallel.
Synonyms: irregular quadrilateral, trapezium
- anatomyThe trapezoid bone of the wrist.
- hobbiesThe marked trapezoidal area immediately behind the goal line and the goal itself within which the goaltender may touch the puck.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA (convex) quadrilateral with two (non-adjacent) parallel sides.
nounA convex quadrilateral with no sides parallel.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe wrist bone between the trapezium and the capitate bones
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*tr̥-
- Proto-Indo-European*ped-
- Proto-Indo-European*pṓds
- Proto-Indo-European*tr̥-ped-ih₂-
- Ancient Greekτράπεζα (trápeza)
- Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
- Proto-Indo-European*wéydos
- Proto-Hellenic*wéidos
- Ancient Greekεἶδος (eîdos)
- Ancient Greekτρᾰπεζοειδής (trăpezoeidḗs)
- New Latintrapezoïdē
- Englishtrapezoid
Learned borrowing from New Latin trapezoïdēs. By surface analysis, trapeze + -oid. First attested in 1704.
More words from New Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan trapezoide
- trapezoidetrapezoid bone
Finnish iso monikulmaluu
- iso monikulmaluutrapezoid bone
French trapézoïde
- trapézoïdetrapezoid bone
Polish kość czworoboczna mniejsza
- kość czworoboczna mniejszatrapezoid bone
Portuguese trapezoide
- trapezoidetrapezoid bone
Spanish trapezoide
- trapezoidetrapezoid bone
Cite this entry
trapezoid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapezoid
“trapezoid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapezoid. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trapezoid,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapezoid.
Source: trapezoid on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.