isosceles

See also: isósceles

English

An isosceles triangle.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īsoscelēs, from Ancient Greek ἰσοσκελής (isoskelḗs, “equal-legged”), from ἴσος (ísos, “equal”) +‎ σκέλος (skélos, “leg”) +‎ -ής (-ḗs, adjective suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪˈsɒsəliːz/

Adjective

isosceles (not comparable)

1. (geometry) Having (at least) two sides of equal length, used especially of a triangle or trapezoid.
   • 1914, Henry Parker Manning, Geometry of Four Dimensions, page 204:

     A right double pyramid is isosceles when the extremities of the vertex-edge are at the same distance from the plane of the base.

   • 1945, Harold E. Wolfe, Introduction to Non-Euclidean Geometry, page 31:

     To prepare for the application of his method, Saccheri made use of a figure with which we are already acquainted. This is the isosceles quadrilateral with the two base angles right angles.

Usage notes

• A triangle with three equal sides is normally described as equilateral, even though it can be regarded as a special case of isosceles triangle.

Translations

having two sides of equal length, used especially of an isosceles triangle

• Armenian: հավասարասրուն (hy) (havasarasrun)
• Belarusian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: равнобедрен (ravnobedren)
• Catalan: isòsceles
• Cebuano: duhalid
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 等腰 (zh) (děngyāo)

• Czech: rovnoramenný m
• Finnish: tasakylkinen
• French: isocèle (fr)
• German: gleichschenklig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἰσοσκελής (isoskelḗs)

• Hebrew: שווה שוקיים m (shvé shokáim)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: comhchosach
• Italian: isoscele (it), equicrure
• Latin: īsoscelēs
• Macedonian: рамнокрак (ramnokrak)
• Manx: cochoshanagh
• Polish: równoramienny (pl)
• Portuguese: isósceles (pt), isóscele
• Romanian: isoscel (ro)
• Russian: равнобе́дренный (ru) (ravnobédrennyj)
• Spanish: isósceles (es)
• Swedish: likbent (sv)
• Tagalog: kaduhain
• Welsh: isosgeles

Further reading

• Isosceles triangle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Isosceles (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• solecises

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Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἰσοσκελής (isoskelḗs), from ἴσος (ísos, “equal”) +‎ σκέλος (skélos, “leg”) +‎ -ής (-ḗs, adjective suffix).

Pronunciation

• (īsoscelēs): (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /iːˈsos.ke.leːs/, [iːˈs̠ɔs̠kɛɫ̪eːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /iˈsoʃ.ʃe.les/, [iˈs̬ɔʃːeles]
• (īsosceles): (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /iːˈsos.ke.les/, [iːˈs̠ɔs̠kɛɫ̪ɛs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /iˈsoʃ.ʃe.les/, [iˈs̬ɔʃːeles]

Adjective

īsoscelēs (genitive īsoscelis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. (geometry) isosceles (having equal legs)

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective (Greek-type).

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	īsoscelēs	īsosceles1 īsoscelēs		īsoscelēs	īsoscelia
Genitive	īsoscelis			īsoscelum īsoscelium
Dative	īsoscelī			īsoscelibus
Accusative	īsoscelem	īsosceles1 īsoscelēs		īsoscelēs	īsoscelia
Ablative	īsoscele īsoscelī			īsoscelibus
Vocative	īsosceles1 īsoscelēs			īsoscelēs	īsoscelia

¹It is unknown if Classical Latin preserved (or would have preserved) the shortness of the original Greek short ending. Notes:

• The Greek masculine and feminine nominative singular is ἰσοσκελής (isoskelḗs), while the masculine and feminine vocative singular and the neuter nominative, accusative and vocative singular are ἰσοσκελές (isoskelés). Maybe Latin preserved the short length of the epsilon (ε), or maybe it did not so that the declension became similar to Latin third declension adjectives of one ending (like felix).
• This word is often used together with triangulum n and rarer with triangulus m.

References

• “īsoscĕles”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• īsoscĕlēs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 860/3.