Vertex \Ver"tex\, n.; pl. E. Vertexes, L. Vertices. [L.
vertex, -icis, a whirl, top of the head, top, summit, from
vertere to turn. See Verse, and cf. Vortex.]
A turning point; the principal or highest point; top; summit;
crown; apex. Specifically:
[1913 Webster]
(a) (Anat.) The top, or crown, of the head.
[1913 Webster]
(b) (Astron.) The zenith, or the point of the heavens
directly overhead.
[1913 Webster]
(c) (Math.) The point in any figure opposite to, and farthest
from, the base; the terminating point of some particular
line or lines in a figure or a curve; the top, or the
point opposite the base.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The principal vertex of a conic section is, in the
parabola, the vertex of the axis of the curve: in the
ellipse, either extremity of either axis, but usually
the left-hand vertex of the transverse axis; in the
hyperbola, either vertex, but usually the right-hand
vertex of the transverse axis.
[1913 Webster]
Vertex of a curve (Math.), the point in which the axis of
the curve intersects it.
Vertex of an angle (Math.), the point in which the sides of
the angle meet.
Vertex of a solid, or Vertex of a surface of revolution
(Math.), the point in which the axis pierces the surface.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
vertex
n 1: the point of intersection of lines or the point opposite the
base of a figure
2: the highest point (of something); "at the peak of the
pyramid" [syn: peak, apex, acme]
[also: vertices (pl)]
WordNet (r) 2.0
76 Moby Thesaurus words for "vertex":
L, acme, angle, apex, apogee, bend, bifurcation, bight, brow, cant,
cap, chevron, climax, cloud nine, coin, corner, crank, crest,
crook, crotchet, crown, culmen, culmination, deflection, dogleg,
edge, elbow, ell, extreme limit, extremity, fork, furcation,
heaven, heavens, height, heights, high noon, highest pitch,
highest point, hook, inflection, knee, limit, maximum, meridian,
mountaintop, ne plus ultra, no place higher, nook, noon, peak,
pinnacle, pitch, point, pole, quoin, ridge, roof, seventh heaven,
sky, spire, summit, swerve, tip, tip-top, top, upmost,
upper extremity, uppermost, utmost, veer, very top, zag, zenith,
zig, zigzag
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
|
|
|