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perpendicular

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The definition of perpendicular is something that is at right angles to something else.

(adjective)

An example of something that is perpendicular is a light post that is standing upright next to a street.

See perpendicular in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective

at right angles to a given plane or line
exactly upright; vertical; straight up or down
very steep
of or designating the third and latest style of English Gothic architecture of the 14th to the 16th cent., characterized by vertical lines in its tracery

Origin: ME perpendiculer < OFr < L perpendicularis < perpendiculum, plumb line < perpendere, to weigh carefully < per-, intens. + pendere, to hang: see pendant

noun

a device used in finding or marking the vertical line from any point
a line at right angles to the plane of the horizon
a line or plane at right angles to another line or plane
a perpendicular or upright position

Related Forms:

perpendicularity noun
perpendicularly adverb

See perpendicular in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective

Mathematics Intersecting at or forming right angles.
Being at right angles to the horizontal; vertical. See Synonyms at vertical.
often Perpendicular Of or relating to a style of English Gothic architecture of the 14th and 15th centuries, characterized by emphasis of the vertical element.

adverb

In a perpendicular position.

noun

Mathematics A line or plane perpendicular to a given line or plane.
A perpendicular position.
A device, such as a plumb line, used in marking the vertical from a given point.
A vertical or nearly vertical line or plane.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English perpendiculer

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Latin perpendiculāris

Origin: , from perpendiculum, plumb line

Origin: , from perpendere, to weigh carefully

Origin: : per-, per-

Origin: + pendere, to weigh; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots

Related Forms: