triangle

See also: Triangle

English

A regular triangle, the geometric shape.
A triangle, the musical instrument.
The triangles, a whipping post formed by three poles.

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

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.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɹaɪəŋɡəl/, /ˈtɹaɪˌæŋɡəl/
  • (US) enPR: trī'-ăng-gəl, IPA(key): /ˈtɹaɪˌæŋɡəl/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪæŋɡəl
  • Hyphenation: tri‧an‧gle
  • Rhymes: -æŋɡəl

Noun

triangle (plural triangles)

  2. (geometry) A polygon with three sides and three angles.
    Hypernyms: polygon < shape; see also Thesaurus:polygon
    Hyponyms: equilateral triangle, isosceles triangle, scalene triangle
    Coordinate terms: quadrilateral (4), pentagon (5), hexagon (6), heptagon (7), octagon (8), nonagon (9), decagon (10); see also Thesaurus:polygon
    Meronyms: angle, side, cathetus, leg, hypotenuse; see also Thesaurus:polygon
    • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 22:
      The wedge-shaped character was the triangle, the archaic Paleolithic sign of the vulva; the pubic triangle was at the end of the phallic stylus.
  3. (US, Canada) A set square.
  4. (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.
  5. (billiards) A triangular piece of equipment used for gathering the balls into the formation required by the game being played.
  6. A love triangle.
    • 2009, Neil McDonald, Quadrant, November 2009, No. 461 (Volume LIII, Number 11), Quadrant Magazine Limited, page 104:
      One of the writers' most pleasing inventions was to treat the triangle love story as comedy.
  7. (systemics) The structure of systems composed with three interrelated objects.
  8. A draughtsman's square in the form of a right-angled triangle.
  9. (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.
    • 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
      I was flogged in 1840. To this day I feel a pain in the chest from the triangles.
    • 1868, “The Week”, in The Nation‎[1], volume 6, number 149:
      But nothing is said as to what we are to do with the negro when we have cut him off from absolute dominion; we are not informed if we may spread him on the triangles as aforetime;
  10. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.
    Synonym: bluebottle
  11. (rail transport) A triangular formation of railway tracks, with a curve on at least one side.
    • 1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 147:
      After turning on the triangle at Jeumont, we set off light engine back to Aulnoye.
    Synonym: wye
  12. This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
    • 1922, Frank Harris, “X”, in My Life and Loves:
      I pictured her legs to myself, her hips and thighs and her sex: she wouldn't have a harsh bush of hairs; already I felt the silken softness of her triangle: would it be brown or have strands of gold in it like her hair?

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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Translations to be checked

Verb

triangle (third-person singular simple present triangles, present participle triangling, simple past and past participle triangled)

  1. (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.

Further reading

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

    Learned borrowing from Latin triangulum.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    triangle m (plural triangles)

    1. (geometry) triangle
    2. (music) triangle

    Further reading

    French

    Etymology

      Learned borrowing from Latin triangulum. By surface analysis, tri- +‎ angle.

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      triangle m (plural triangles)

      1. (geometry) triangle (polygon)
        triangle équilatéral ― equilateral triangle
        triangle isocèle ― isosceles triangle
      2. (music) triangle (percussion instrument)

      Derived terms

      Further reading

      Anagrams

      Polish

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈtrjaŋ.ɡlɛ/
      • Rhymes: -aŋɡlɛ
      • Syllabification: trian‧gle

      Etymology 1

        See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

        Noun

        triangle m inan

        1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of triangel

        Etymology 2

          See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

          Noun

          triangle m inan

          1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of triangiel
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