dimension

See also: Dimension and dimensión

English

Etymology

From Latin dīmēnsiō, dīmēnsiōnem.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /daɪˈmɛnʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈmɛnʃən/, /daɪˈmɛnʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnʃən

Noun

dimension (plural dimensions)

1. A single aspect of a given thing.

   This film can be enjoyed on many dimensions - the script is great, the acting is realistic, and the special effects will simply take you aback.

2. A measure of spatial extent in a particular direction, such as height, width or breadth, or depth.
   • 1992, Douglas Adams, chapter 17, in Mostly Harmless (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 150:

     I can tell you that in your universe you move freely in three dimensions that you call space. […] After that it gets a bit complicated, and there's all sort of stuff going on in dimensions thirteen to twenty-two that you really wouldn't want to know about.

   • 2012 January 1, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 1, page 23:

     We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.

3. A construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished.
4. (geometry) The number of independent coordinates needed to specify uniquely the location of a point in a space; also, any of such independent coordinates.
5. (linear algebra) The number of elements of any basis of a vector space.
6. (physics) One of the physical properties that are regarded as fundamental measures of a physical quantity, such as mass, length and time.

   The dimension of velocity is length divided by time.

7. (computing) Any of the independent ranges of indices in a multidimensional array.
8. (science fiction, fantasy) A universe or plane of existence.

   a machine that lets you travel to a parallel dimension.

   • 1938 July, L. Ron Hubbard, “The Dangerous Dimension”, in Astounding Science-Fiction‎^[2], volume XXI, number 5, Street & Smith, OCLC 10756251, page 105:

     "If a man should wish to be in some other place, it is entirely possible for him to imagine himself in that place and, diving back through the negative dimension, to emerge out of it in that place with instantaneous rapidity. To imagine oneself———"

   • 1988 May 2, Rod Loomis, Michelle Phillips, Gates McFadden, We'll Always Have Paris (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Paramount Domestic Television, OCLC 857144250:

     DR. PAUL MANHEIM: I have been on the other side. I have touched another dimension. Part of me is still there.
     LAURA MANHEIM: Help him.
     DR. CRUSHER: Try to stay calm Dr. Manheim. I don't think it's going to help you're struggling against it.
     DR. PAUL MANHEIM: My mind is floating between two places. It is difficult to know which is which. There is no way to explain it.

   • 2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 2:

     He was experimenting with matter transportation through the nth dimension.

Synonyms

• (single aspect of a thing): aspect
• (measure of spatial extent): magnitude, proportion, size, scope
• (construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished): attribute, property

Derived terms

• 3-D
• 3-dimensional
• 4-dimensional
• correlation dimension
• dimensional
• dimensional analysis
• dimensional shingle
• dimensionless
• dimension lumber
• dimension stone
• dimension work
• exterior dimension
• four-dimensional
• fourth dimension
• fractal dimension
• Hamel dimension
• Hausdorff dimension
• Helly dimension
• Iitaka dimension
• information dimension
• isoperimetric dimension
• Kaplan-Yorke dimension
• Krull dimension
• Lebesgue covering dimension
• Lyapunov dimension
• multidimensional
• one-dimensional
• pointwise dimension
• poset dimension
• predimension
• pseudodimension
• q-dimension
• third dimension
• three-dimensional
• transdimensional

 

Related terms

• hyperdimension

Translations

single aspect of a thing

• Bulgarian: аспе́кт (bg) m (aspékt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 方面 (zh) (fāngmiàn), 特點 (zh), 特点 (zh) (tèdiǎn)

• Danish: dimension (da) c, side (da) c, aspekt n
• Finnish: seikka (fi)
• French: dimension (fr) f
• Georgian: ასპექტი (asṗekṭi)
• Greek: διάσταση (el) f (diástasi)
• Hindi: पहलू (hi) m (pahlū)
• Indonesian: matra (id)
• Italian: aspetto (it)
• Polish: wymiar (pl) m
• Romanian: dimensiune (ro) f
• Russian: аспе́кт (ru) n (aspékt)
• Sindhi: پَهلُو‎ (sd) (pahloo)
• Swedish: aspekt (sv) c, dimension (sv) c
• Tagalog: sukod

measure of spatial extent

• Arabic: بُعْد‎ (ar) m (buʿd)
• Belarusian: паме́р m (pamjér)
• Bengali: মাত্রা (matra)
• Bulgarian: разме́р (bg) m (razmér)
• Catalan: dimensió (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᏂᎦᏅᎯᏒ (niganvhisv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 尺寸 (zh) (chǐcùn)

• Czech: rozměr (cs) m
• Danish: dimension (da) c
• Dutch: dimensie (nl) f, afmeting (nl) f
• Faroese: royvildi n
• Finnish: mitta (fi)
• French: dimension (fr) f
• Galician: dimensión f
• Georgian: სიდიდე (sidide), ზომა (zoma), მოცულობა (moculoba)
• German: Dimension (de) f
• Greek: διάσταση (el) f (diástasi)
• Hebrew: מֵמַד‎ (he) m (mēmád)
• Hindi: विमा f (vimā), परिमाण (hi) m (parimāṇ), माप (hi) m (māp), मात्रा (hi) f (mātrā), पैमाइश (hi) f (paimāiś), नाप (hi) m (nāp)
• Icelandic: vídd (is) f
• Indonesian: matra (id)
• Italian: dimensione (it) f
• Japanese: 面積 (ja) (めんせき, menseki), 寸法 (ja) (すんぽう, sunpō)
• Korean: 치수 (ko) (chisu)
• Occitan: dimension (oc) f
• Polish: wymiar (pl) m
• Portuguese: dimensão (pt)
• Romanian: dimensiune (ro) f, dimensiuni pl
• Russian: разме́р (ru) m (razmér)
• Sanskrit: परिमाण (sa) n (parimāṇa)
• Scottish Gaelic: tomhas m
• Sindhi: ماپَ‎ (sd) (maapa)
• Slovene: dimenzija f
• Spanish: dimensión (es) f
• Swedish: dimension (sv) c
• Tagalog: sukod
• Ukrainian: ви́мір (uk) m (výmir), ро́змір m (rózmir)

construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: mitta (fi)
• French: dimension (fr) f
• Greek: διάσταση (el) f (diástasi)
• Russian: измере́ние (ru) n (izmerénije)
• Swedish: dimension (sv) c
• Tagalog: sukod

in geometry

• Bulgarian: разме́рност f (razmérnost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 維數 (zh), 维数 (zh) (wéishù), 維 (zh), 维 (zh) (wéi)

• Czech: rozměr (cs) m, dimenze f
• Danish: dimension (da) c
• Estonian: mõõde
• Faroese: royvildi n
• Finnish: ulottuvuus (fi)
• French: dimension (fr) f
• Georgian: განზომილება (ganzomileba)
• German: Dimension (de) f
• Greek: διάσταση (el) f (diástasi)
• Indonesian: matra (id)
• Japanese: 次元 (ja) (じげん, jigen), 寸法 (ja) (すんぽう, sunpō)
• Khmer: វិមាត្រ (km) (vimiətrɔɔ)
• Korean: 차원 (ko) (chawon)
• Latin: dimensio
• Malay: dimensi (ms)
• Polish: wymiar (pl) m
• Portuguese: dimensão (pt)
• Romanian: dimensiune (ro) f
• Russian: разме́рность (ru) f (razmérnostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: tomhas m
• Slovene: dimenzija f
• Swedish: dimension (sv) c
• Tagalog: sukod
• Thai: มิติ (th) (mí-dtì)
• Turkish: boyut (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

in physics

• Bulgarian: измере́ние (bg) n (izmerénie)
• Catalan: dimensió (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: dimensie (nl) f
• Finnish: ulottuvuus (fi)
• French: dimension (fr) f
• Georgian: განზომილება (ganzomileba)
• German: Dimension (de) f
• Greek: διάσταση (el) f (diástasi)
• Indonesian: matra (id)
• Japanese: 次元 (ja) (じげん, jigen), 寸法 (ja) (すんぽう, sunpō)
• Papiamentu: dimenshon
• Polish: wymiar (pl) m
• Portuguese: dimensão (pt)
• Romanian: dimensiune (ro) f
• Russian: измере́ние (ru) n (izmerénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: tomhas m
• Slovene: dimenzija f
• Swedish: dimension (sv) c
• Tagalog: sukod
• Thai: มิติ (th) (mí-dtì)

in computing

• Bulgarian: измере́ние (bg) n (izmerénie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 維度 (zh), 维度 (zh) (wéidù)

• Czech: rozměr (cs) m
• Finnish: ulottuvuus (fi)
• French: dimension (fr) f
• German: Dimension (de) f
• Greek: διάσταση (el) f (diástasi)
• Japanese: 次元 (ja) (じげん, jigen)
• Korean: 차원 (ko) (chawon)
• Polish: wymiar (pl) m
• Portuguese: dimensão (pt)
• Romanian: dimensiune (ro) f
• Russian: измере́ние (ru) n (izmerénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: tomhas m
• Slovene: dimenzija f
• Swedish: dimension (sv) c
• Tagalog: sukod

in science fiction

• Bulgarian: измерение (bg) n (izmerenie)
• Catalan: dimensió (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: dimension (da) c
• Finnish: ulottuvuus (fi), dimensio (fi)
• French: dimension (fr) f
• Georgian: განზომილება (ganzomileba)
• German: Dimension (de) f
• Greek: διάσταση (el) f (diástasi)
• Japanese: 次元 (ja) (じげん, jigen), 寸法 (ja) (すんぽう, sunpō)
• Norwegian: dimensjon
• Polish: wymiar (pl) m
• Portuguese: dimensão (pt)
• Romanian: dimensiune (ro) f
• Russian: измере́ние (ru) n (izmerénije)
• Slovene: dimenzija f
• Swedish: dimension (sv) c
• Tagalog: sukod
• Turkish: boyut (tr), evren (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} dimensio
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} dimensi (id)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 차원 (ko) (chawon)

Verb

dimension (third-person singular simple present dimensions, present participle dimensioning, simple past and past participle dimensioned)

1. (transitive) To mark, cut or shape something to specified dimensions.
2. (transitive, programming) To specify the size of (an array or similar data structure); to allocate.

   Hyponym: redimension

   • 2002, James D. Foxall, ‎Wendy Haro-Chun, SAMS Teach Yourself C# in 24 Hours (page 268)

     Dimension an array to hold only as much data as you intend to put into it.

Translations

to mark, cut or shape something to specified dimensions

• Bulgarian: оразмерявам (orazmerjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 在……上標尺寸, 在……上标尺寸 (zài... shàng biāo chǐcùn), 按規格尺寸切割, 按规格尺寸切割 (àn guīgé chǐcùn qiēgē)

• Finnish: mitoittaa (fi)
• French: dimensionner (fr)
• German: dimensionieren (de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dimensjonere

  Nynorsk: dimensjonere, dimensjonera

• Portuguese: dimensão (pt)
• Romanian: dimensiona (ro)
• Swedish: dimensionera (sv)

Anagrams

• minisonde

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Esperanto

Noun

dimension

1. accusative singular of dimensio

---

Finnish

Noun

dimension

1. genitive singular of dimensio

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dīmensio, dīmensiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.mɑ̃.sjɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

dimension f (plural dimensions)

1. dimension

Further reading

• “dimension”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• mendiions
• ondinisme

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Occitan

Etymology

From Latin dīmensio. Attested from the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn)

  (file)

Noun

dimension f (plural dimensions)

1. dimension

Related terms

• dimensional
• dimensionar