scalene Hear it!

scalene definition

sca·lene (skā′lēn′, skā lēn′)

adjective

  1. Anat. designating or of any of three deeply set muscles extending from the first two ribs to the cervical vertebrae, and serving to bend the neck
  2. Geom.
    1. having unequal sides and angles: said of a triangle
    2. having the axis not perpendicular to the base; oblique: said of a cone, etc.

Etymology: LL scalenus < Gr skalēnos, uneven, odd < IE base *(s)kel-, to bend, crooked > OE sceolh, squinting, L coluber, serpent

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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