Glossary of shapes with metaphorical names
Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are
bell, etc. These terms may variously refer to objects, their cross sections or projections
.
Types of shapes
Curves
-
The Fish bladder is the intersection of two congruent disks, each centered on the perimeter of the other -
-
-
Tomahawk curve, with its handle and spike thickened
Some of these names are "classical terms", i.e., words of
leaves in botany
.
- Astroid
- Aquiline, shaped like an eagle's beak (as in a Roman nose)
- Bell-shaped curve
- Biconic shape, a shape in a way opposite to the hourglass: it is based on two oppositely oriented truncated coneswith their bases joined; the cones are not necessarily the same
- Bowtie shape, in two dimensions
- Atmospheric reentry apparatus
- Centerbody of an inlet cone in ramjets
- Bow shape
- Bow curve
- Bullet Nose[1] an open-ended hourglass
- Butterfly curve (algebraic)[2]
- Cocked hat curve, also known as Bicorn[3]
- pine cone»)
- Doughnut shape
- Egg-shaped, see "Oval", below
- Geoid (From Greek Ge (γη) for "Earth"), the term specifically introduced to denote the approximation of the shape of the Earth, which is approximately spherical, but not exactly so
- Heart shape, long been used for its varied symbolism
- Horseshoe-shaped, resembling a horseshoe, cf. horseshoe (disambiguation). In botany, also called lecotropal (see below)
- Hourglass shape or hourglass figure, the one that resembles an hourglass; nearly symmetric shape wide at its ends and narrow in the middle; some flat shapes may be alternatively compared to the figure eight or hourglass
- Dog bone shape, an hourglass with rounded ends[4]
- Hourglass corset
- Ntama
- Engraved Hourglass Nebula
- Inverted bell
- Kite
- Lecotropal, in botany, shaped like a horseshoe (see horseshoe-shaped, above). From Greek λέκος dish + -τροπος turning[5][6][7]
- Lens or Vesica shape (the latter taking its name from the shape of the lentil seed); see also mandorla, almond-shaped
- Lune, from the Latin word for the Moon
- Maltese Cross curve[8]
- Mandorla, almond-shaped (Italian for "almond"), often used as a frame in mediaeval Christian iconography.
- Mushroom shape, which became infamous as a result of the mushroom cloud[9]
- egg shape
- Pear shaped, in reference to the shape of a pear, i.e., a generally rounded shape, tapered towards the top and more spherical/circular at the bottom
- Rod, a 3-cylinder
- Scarabaeus curve[10] resembling a scarab
- Serpentine, shaped like a snake
- Stadium, two half-circles joined by straight sides[11]
- Stirrup curve[12]
- Stara figure with multiple sharp points
- Sunburst
- Tomahawk
- Ungula, shaped like a horse's hoof
Numbers and letters
- A-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter A
- B-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter B
- C-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter C
- D-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter D
- D-ring
- Deltoid, the shape that resembles the Greek capital letter Δ
- E-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter E
- Magnetic cores of transformers may be E-shaped
- A number of notable buildings have an E-shaped floorplan
- F-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter F
- Figure 0, the shape that resembles the numeral 0
- Figure 1, the shape that resembles the numeral 1
- Figure 2, the shape that resembles the numeral 2
- Figure 3, the shape that resembles the numeral 3
- Figure 4, the shape that resembles the numeral 4
- Figure 5, the shape that resembles the numeral 5
- Figure 6, the shape that resembles the numeral 6
- Figure 7, the shape that resembles the numeral 7
- Figure 8, the shape that resembles the numeral 8
- Figure 9, the shape that resembles the numeral 9
- G-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter G
- H-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter H
- H-beam, a beamwith H-shaped section
- ) are described as "H-shaped"
- H topology in electronic filter design
- Also see Balbis
- I-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter serif font, i.e., with horizontal strokes
- I-beam, a beam with an I-shaped section
- The court in the Mesoamerican ballgame is I-shaped
- J-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter J
- K-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter K
- K-shaped recession
- K turn
- L-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter L
- The L-Shaped Room
- L game
- L-shaped recession
- Lemniscate, the shape that resembles the infinity symbol
- M-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter M (interchangeable with the W-shape)
- N-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter N (interchangeable with the Z-shape)
- O-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter O
- P-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter P
- P-trap, a P-shaped pipe under a sink or basin
- Pi-shape, the shape that resembles the Greek capital letter Π
- Π topology in electronic filter design
- Q-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter Q
- R-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter R
- S-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter S
- The sigmoid colon, an S-shaped bend in the human intestine
- S-twist, contrasted with Z-twist for yarn
- T-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter T
- T junction
- T topology in electronic filter design
- T-shaped (chemistry)
- résumés
- T-shirt
- T-pose, used in computer animation models
- U-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter U
- U-shaped valley
- U-turn
- U-shaped recession
- Hyoid, the shape that resembles the Greek letter υ
- V-shape, the shape that resembles the letter V, also known as the Chevron (which includes the inverted-V shape)
- V-shaped valley
- V-shaped recession
- V-shaped body – male human body shape with broad shoulders
- V-shaped passage grave
- V sign
- W-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter W (interchangeable with the M-shape)
- W-shaped recession
- X-shape, the shape that resembles the letter X
- Saltire
- X topology in electronic filter design
- χ
- Y-shape, the shape that resembles the letter Y
- Y-frontbriefs
- Pall
- Z-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter Z (interchangeable with the N-shape)
- Z-twist, contrasted with S-twist for yarn
See also
- List of geometric shapes
- The Category:Curves lists numerous metaphorical names, such as
- Bean curves, also called Nephroids, from the Greek word for kidney
References
- ^ "Bullet Nose". MathWorld. Wolfram. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "Butterfly Curve". MathWorld. Wolfram. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "Bicorn". MathWorld. Wolfram. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "Cassini Ovals". MathWorld. Wolfram. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "lecotropal". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ISBN 978-1-60469-715-5. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ISBN 978-1-134-94217-6. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- ^ "Maltese Cross Curve". MathWorld. Wolfram. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "Area of a mushroom-shaped curve". Mathematics. Stack Exchange. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
- ^ "Scarabaeus". MathWorld. Wolfram. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "Stadium – from Wolfram MathWorld". Mathworld.wolfram.com. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
- ^ "Stirrup Curve". MathWorld. Wolfram. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-20.