square

square

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of square in English

English Online Dictionary. What means square‎? What does square mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- +‎ quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra.

Displaced Old English fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

Pronunciation

  • enPR: skwâr, Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /skwɛə/
  • (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /skwɛː/
  • (Scotland) IPA(key): /skweɹ/
  • (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) enPR: skwûr, IPA(key): /skwɜː(ɹ)/
  • (Canada, US) IPA(key): /skwɛɹ/, [skwɛ˞], /skwɛəɹ/
  • (General Australian) IPA(key): /skweː/
  • (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) enPR: skwîr, IPA(key): /skwiə/
  • (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /skweə/
  • (Indic) IPA(key): /skweːɾ/, (non-rhotic) /-æː/
    • (dialectal) IPA(key): /skwaja(ɾ)/
    • (nonstandard) IPA(key): /sk(w)oja(ɾ)/

Noun

square (plural squares)

  2. (geometry) A polygon with four straight sides of equal length and four right angles; an equilateral rectangle; a regular quadrilateral.
    Hypernyms: rectangle, rhombus, kite, parallelogram < polygon < shape
    Coordinate terms: circle, oval, triangle, trapezoid, lozenge, diamond
  4. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form.
    1. A cell in a grid.
    2. A square piece, part, or surface.
    3. The front of a woman's dress over the bosom, usually worked or embroidered.
    4. (Canada, US) A dessert cut into rectangular pieces, or a piece of such a dessert.
    5. (printing) A certain number of lines, forming a portion of a column, nearly square; used chiefly in reckoning the prices of advertisements in newspapers.
      Coordinate term: column inch
  6. An L- or T-shaped tool used to place objects or draw lines at right angles.
    Hyponyms: steel square, framing square, carpenter's square, T-square
    1. (figuratively, obsolete) A true measure, standard, or pattern.
  8. An open space or park, often in the center of a town, not necessarily square in shape, often containing trees, seating and other features pleasing to the eye.
    Synonyms: piazza, plaza
    1. (often in street names or addresses) A street surrounding a public square or plaza.
      Synonym: place
  10. (mathematics) The product of a number or quantity multiplied by itself; the second power of a number, value, term or expression.
  11. (military formation) A body of troops drawn up in a square formation.
    • 1818, quoted in Christopher Kelly, History of the French Revolution and of the Wars produced by that Memorable Event
      The French cavalry, in proof armour, repeatedly charged our squares, their cannon opening chasms; but the British infantry, though greatly diminished, were inflexible and impenetrable to the last.
  13. (1950s slang) A socially conventional or conservative person; a person who has little or no interest in the latest fads or trends.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:mainstreamer
    Antonyms: see Thesaurus:fashionable
  14. (British) The symbol # on a telephone; hash.
    Synonyms: hash, sharp, (US) pound sign
  16. (cricket) The central area of a cricket field, with one or more pitches of which only one is used at a time.
  18. (real estate) A unit of measurement of area, equal to a 10 foot by 10 foot square, i.e. 100 square feet or roughly 9.3 square metres. Used in real estate for the size of a house or its rooms, though progressively being replaced by square metres in metric countries such as Australia.
    • 2006, Macquarie Bank (Australia), press release Macquarie releases Real Estate Market Outlook 2006 - "The World Squared", 21 June 2006 [2]
      Just as the basic unit of real estate measurement across the world is the square
    • 2007, Your Estate advertisement for Grindelwald Tasmania [3]
      The house is very large and open and boasts 39 squares of living space plus over 13 squares of decking area on 3 sides and 17 squares of garage and workshop downstairs.
  20. (roofing) A unit used in measuring roof area equivalent to 100 square feet (9.29 m²) of roof area. The materials for roofing jobs are often billed by the square in the United States.
  22. (academia) A mortarboard.
  24. (colloquial, US) Ellipsis of square meal.
  26. (archaic) Exact proportion; justness of workmanship and conduct; regularity; rule.
    • 1594-1597, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
      They of Galatia [were] much more out of square.
  28. The relation of harmony, or exact agreement; equality; level.
  30. (astrology) The position of planets distant ninety degrees from each other; a quadrate.
  32. (dated) The act of squaring, or quarrelling; a quarrel.
  34. (slang) Cigarette.
  36. (brewing) A vat used for fermentation.
  38. (slang, MLE) A well-defined torso.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Welsh: sgwâr

Translations

Adjective

square (comparative squarer, superlative squarest)

  2. Shaped like a square (the polygon).
    Hypernyms: rectangular, polygonal
    Coordinate terms: circular, oval, triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular, rhomboid
  4. Forming a right angle (90°).
    Synonyms: orthogonal, perpendicular, normal
    Antonyms: crooked, out of square, oblique
    2. (of box-shaped objects such as buildings or metal frames) Forming right angles in all planes as intended; not racked or leaning.
      Antonyms: out of square, crooked, racked
    4. (nautical) Forming right angles with the mast or the keel, and parallel to the horizon; said of the yards of a square-rigged vessel when they are so braced.
  6. Used in the names of units of area formed by multiplying a unit of length by itself.
    Coordinate terms: cubic, linear
  8. Honest; straightforward; fair.
    Synonyms: above board, on the level, on the square, on the up and up, straight
  9. Satisfied; comfortable with; not experiencing any conflict.
  11. Even; tied
  13. (slang, derogatory) Socially conventional; boring.
    Synonym: bourgeois
  15. (cricket) In line with the batsman's popping crease.
  17. Solid, decent, substantial.
  19. Having a shape broad for the height, with angular rather than curving outlines.
  20. (automotive) Of an internal combustion engine design, in which the diameter of the piston is similar, roughly, approximately, equal to its stroke distance.
    Coordinate terms: oversquare, undersquare

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

square (comparative more square, superlative most square)

  1. Directly.

Verb

square (third-person singular simple present squares, present participle squaring, simple past and past participle squared)

  1. (transitive) To adjust so as to align with or place at a right angle to something else; in particular:
    1. (nautical) To place at a right angle to the mast or keel.
    2. (rowing) To rotate the oars so that they are perpendicular to the water.
  2. (ambitransitive) To resolve or reconcile; to suit or fit.
  4. (transitive) To adjust or adapt so as to bring into harmony with something.
  5. (transitive, mathematics) Of a value, term, or expression, to multiply by itself; to raise to the second power.
  6. (transitive, geometry) To draw, with a pair of compasses and a straightedge only, a square with the same area as.
  7. (transitive, geometry) To tile (completely fill) with squares.
  8. (soccer) To make a short low pass sideways across the pitch
  9. (archaic) To take opposing sides; to quarrel.
  10. To accord or agree exactly; to be consistent with; to suit; to fit.
  11. (obsolete) To go to opposite sides; to take an attitude of offense or defense, or of defiance; to quarrel.
  12. To take a boxing attitude; often with up or off.
  13. To form with four sides and four right angles.
  14. To form with right angles and straight lines, or flat surfaces.
  15. To compare with, or reduce to, any given measure or standard.
  16. (astrology) To hold a quartile position respecting.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

  • cubic
  • quadrilateral
  • rectangle
  • rhombus

Further reading

  • square on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English square. Doublet of équerre.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skwaʁ/

Noun

square m (plural squares)

  1. small public garden in the middle of a square

Further reading

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

Anagrams

  • arques, raques

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • sqware, squyre, squyer, sqyre, squar, sware

Etymology

From Old French esquarre, esquerre (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- +‎ quadro, from quadrus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈskwaːr(ə)/, /ˈskwɛːr(ə)/, /ˈskwiːr(ə)/

Noun

square (plural squares)

  1. A square (tool used to ensure a right angle)
  2. A square (equilateral rectangle); a square plot of land.
  3. One of the edges of a square.
  4. In late medieval English, an esquire.

Descendants

  • English: square
  • Scots: square

References

  • “squār(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-17.

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.