triangle
UK /ˈtɹaɪəŋɡəl/ · US /ˈtɹaɪˌæŋɡəl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms triangles triangling triangled
- noun (geometry) A polygon with three sides and three angles.
- noun (US, Canada) A set square.
- noun (music) A percussion instrument made by forming a metal rod into a triangular shape which is open at one angle. It is suspended from a string and hit with a metal bar to make a resonant sound.
- noun (billiards) A triangular piece of equipment used for gathering the balls into the formation required by the game being played.
- noun A love triangle.
- noun (systemics) The structure of systems composed with three interrelated objects.
- noun A draughtsman's square in the form of a right-angled triangle.
- noun (historical, usually in the plural) A frame formed of three poles stuck in the ground and united at the top, to which people were bound for corporal punishment.
- verb (psychology) To form or be included in a three-part interaction, e.g., a Karpman drama triangle, such as by being ganged up on by two people or being torn between conflicting demands from two sources.
- proper noun The area comprising the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill in North Carolina. Used with "the" except when attributive. “I moved to the Triangle two years ago.”
- proper noun A town in Broome County, New York.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Prince William County, Virginia.
- proper noun A community in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, seemingly in Labrador.
- proper noun A hamlet in Hewelsfield and Brockweir parish, Forest of Dean district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref SO5401).
- proper noun A suburb of Burntwood in Hammerwich parish, Lichfield district, Staffordshire (OS grid ref SK0507).
- proper noun A small village south-west of Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale borough, West Yorkshire (OS grid ref SE0422).
- proper noun A small town in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe.
Synonyms
threeside trigon love triangle menage à trois bluebottle wye △ trilateral Triangulum
Etymology
From Middle English triangle, from Old French triangle, from Latin triangulum, noun use of adjective triangulus (“three-cornered, having three angles”), from trēs (“three”) + angulus (“corner, angle”), equivalent to tri- + -angle.
From triangle; in North Carolina from being a triangular region.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A figure bounded by three lines, and containing three angles.
- noun An instrument of percussion, usually made of a rod of steel, bent into the form of a triangle, open at one angle, and sounded by being struck with a small metallic rod.
Etymology [L. triangulum, fr. triangulus triangular; tri- (see Tri-) + angulus angle: cf. F. triangle. See Angle a corner.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “triangle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details