rectangular

English

rectangular clock face

Etymology

Etymology tree

English rectangle

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -ārisbor.

English -ar

English rectangular

From rectangle + -ar.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɛkˈtæŋɡjəlɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɛkˈtæŋɡjʊlə/
• Hyphenation: rec‧tan‧gu‧lar

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

rectangular (not generally comparable, comparative more rectangular, superlative most rectangular)

1. Having a shape like a rectangle.

   rectangular bench

   rectangular grid

   rectangular object

   rectangular table

   • 2019 April 3, Janelle Zara, “How to Organize Your Kitchen Like a Professional Chef”, in The New York Times Magazine‎^[1], archived from the original on 17 July 2020:

     Where rectangular storage containers make a mess of mismatched lids and sometimes unstackable shapes, the ordinary cylindrical deli cups used for food delivery are far superior.

2. Having axes that meet each other with right angles.

Derived terms

• birectangular
• equirectangular
• hyperrectangular
• nonrectangular
• rapid rectangular flashing beacon
• rectangular coordinates
• rectangular cuboid
• rectangular hyperbola
• rectangularise
• rectangularity
• rectangularization
• rectangularly
• rectangularness
• rectangular number
• rectangularwise
• subrectangular
• sub-rectangular
• trirectangular
• unrectangular

Translations

having a shape like a rectangle

• Arabic: مُسْتَطِيل (mustaṭīl)
• Armenian: ուղղանկյուն (hy) (uġġankyun)
• Bengali: আয়তক্ষেত্রাকৃতি (aẏotokkhetrakriti)
• Bulgarian: правоъ́гълен (pravoắgălen)
• Catalan: rectangular (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 矩形的 (zh) (jǔxíng de)

• Czech: obdélníkový (cs), rektangulární (cs)
• Danish: rektangulær
• Dutch: rechthoekig (nl), rechthoekige (nl)
• Esperanto: ortangula
• Finnish: suorakulmainen (fi), suorakaiteen muotoinen
• French: rectangulaire (fr)
• Georgian: მართკუთხა (martḳutxa)
• German: rechteckig (de), rechtwinklig (de), rechtwinkelig (de)
• Greek: ορθογώνιος (el) (orthogónios)

  Ancient Greek: ὀρθογώνιος (orthogṓnios)

• Hebrew: מלבני (he) m (malbení)
• Italian: rettangolare (it)
• Japanese: 直角の (ja) (ちょっかくの, chokkaku no)
• Latin: rectiangulus, rectangulus
• Macedonian: правоаголен (pravoagolen)
• Māori: porowhā
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rektangulær (no)

  Nynorsk: rektangulær

• Piedmontese: retangolar
• Polish: prostokątny (pl)
• Portuguese: retangular (pt)
• Russian: прямоуго́льный (ru) (prjamougólʹnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: u obliku pravougaonika, pravougaoni
• Spanish: rectangular (es)
• Swedish: rektangulär (sv)
• Tagalog: paritadlungin
• Telugu: చతురస్త్ర (caturastra), చదరం (cadaraṁ)
• Uzbek: to’rtburchak
• Welsh: cyfongl

having axes that meet each other with right angles

• Finnish: suorakulmainen (fi)
• Polish: prostopadłościenny

Catalan

Etymology

From rectangle +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [rək.təŋ.ɡuˈlar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [rək.təŋ.ɡuˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [rek.taŋ.ɡuˈlaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [rek.taŋ.ɡuˈlar]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)
• Hyphenation: rec‧tan‧gu‧lar

Adjective

rectangular m or f (masculine and feminine plural rectangulars)

1. rectangular

Further reading

• “rectangular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Galician

Alternative forms

• retangular (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Fron rectángulo +‎ ar.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /rɛktaŋɡuˈlaɾ/ [rɛk.t̪ɑŋ.ɡuˈlaɾ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /rɛktaŋɡuˈlaɾ/ [rɛk.t̪ɑŋ.ɡuˈlaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /rɛktaŋħuˈlaɾ/ [rɛk.t̪ɑŋ.ħuˈlaɾ]

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: rec‧tan‧gu‧lar

Adjective

rectangular m or f (plural rectangulares)

1. rectangular

Related terms

• rectángulo

Further reading

• “rectangular”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Portuguese

Adjective

rectangular m or f (plural rectangulares)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of retangular; still used where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

Further reading

• “rectangular”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “rectangular”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Alternative forms

• ректангулар (rectangular) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Etymology tree

French rectangle

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -ārisslbor.

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -āriusslbor.

French -aire

French rectangulairebor.

Romanian rectangular

Borrowed from French rectangulaire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rek.tan.ɡuˈlar/
• Rhymes: -ar
• Hyphenation: rec‧tan‧gu‧lar

Adjective

rectangular m or n (feminine singular rectangulară, masculine plural rectangulari, feminine/neuter plural rectangulare)

1. rectangular

Declension

Declension of rectangular

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	rectangular		rectangulară	rectangulari	rectangulare
	definite	rectangularul		rectangulara	rectangularii	rectangularele
genitive- dative	indefinite	rectangular		rectangulare	rectangulari	rectangulare
	definite	rectangularului		rectangularei	rectangularilor	rectangularelor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Medieval Latinlbor.

Late Latin rectangulumlbor.

Spanish rectángulo

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Old Spanish -ar

Spanish -ar

Spanish rectangular

From rectángulo + -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reɡtanɡuˈlaɾ/ [reɣ̞.t̪ãŋ.ɡuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: rec‧tan‧gu‧lar

Adjective

rectangular m or f (masculine and feminine plural rectangulares)

1. rectangular

Related terms

• rectángulo

Further reading

• “rectangular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026