trapezoid

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UK/ˈtɹæpəzɔɪd/UK/trəˈpiːzɔɪd/

noun

A (convex) quadrilateral with two (non-adjacent) parallel sides.

Similar
UncommonScrabble 21

Meanings

nountrapezoid (plural trapezoids)

plural trapezoids

  1. 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 178
    1 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, →ISSN

    Synonyms: trapezium

  2. AustraliaNew ZealandUKgeometryA convex quadrilateral with no sides parallel.

    Synonyms: irregular quadrilateral, trapezium

  3. anatomyThe trapezoid bone of the wrist.
  4. 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.

Similar

nounA convex quadrilateral with no sides parallel.

Similar
irregular quadrilateraltrapezium

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe wrist bone between the trapezium and the capitate bones

Broader

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. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*wéydos
  8. Proto-Hellenic*wéidos
  9. Ancient Greekεἶδος (eîdos)
  10. Ancient Greekτρᾰπεζοειδής (trăpezoeidḗs)
  11. New Latintrapezoïdē
  12. Englishtrapezoid

Learned borrowing from New Latin trapezoïdēs. By surface analysis, trapeze + -oid. First attested in 1704.

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
APA

trapezoid. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapezoid

MLA

“trapezoid.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapezoid. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trapezoid,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trapezoid.

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