Glossary of shapes with metaphorical names#Numbers and letters
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Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a bell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertical cross section of a bell, etc. These terms may variously refer to objects, their cross sections or projections.
Types of shapes
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|File:Vesica_piscis_circles.svg
|alt1=Fish bladder
|The Fish bladder is the intersection of two congruent disks, each centered on the perimeter of the other
|File:Bicorn.svg
|alt2=Bicorn
| File:Astroid.svg
|alt3=Astroid
|File:Tomahawk filled.svg
|alt4=Tomahawk curve
|Tomahawk curve, with its handle and spike thickened
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Some of these names are "classical terms", i.e., words of Latin or Ancient Greek etymology. Others are English language constructs (although the base words may have non-English etymology). In some disciplines, where shapes of subjects in question are a very important consideration, the shape naming may be quite elaborate, see, e.g., the taxonomy of shapes of plant 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 cones or truncated cones with 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{{cite web |url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BulletNose.html |title=Bullet Nose |work=MathWorld |publisher=Wolfram |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20}} an open-ended hourglass
- Butterfly curve (algebraic){{cite web |url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ButterflyCurve.html |title=Butterfly Curve |work=MathWorld |publisher=Wolfram |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20}}
- Cocked hat curve, also known as Bicorn{{cite web |url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Bicorn.html |title=Bicorn |work=MathWorld |publisher=Wolfram |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20}}
- Cone (from the Greek word for « 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{{cite web|url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CassiniOvals.html |title=Cassini Ovals |work=MathWorld |publisher=Wolfram |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20}}
- 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{{Cite OED |lecotropal}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFjVCQAAQBAJ&dq=lecotropal&pg=PA286 |title=The Dictionary of Science for Gardeners |first=Michael |last=Allaby |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland, OR |date=2015-09-05 |isbn=978-1-60469-715-5 |access-date=2023-03-02}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fbpc7iyL2UC&dq=lecotropal&pg=PA909 |title=Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English |first=Eric |last=Partridge |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Milton Park, UK |date=2006-05-23 |isbn=978-1-134-94217-6 |access-date=2023-03-02}}
- 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{{cite web|url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MalteseCrossCurve.html |title=Maltese Cross Curve |work=MathWorld |publisher=Wolfram |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20}}
- 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{{cite web |title=Area of a mushroom-shaped curve |url=https://math.stackexchange.com/q/2859529 |website=Mathematics |publisher=Stack Exchange |access-date=2019-12-20 |date=2018-07-17}}
- Oval (from the Latin "ovum" for egg), a descriptive term applied to several kinds of "rounded" shapes, including the 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-dimensional, solid (filled) cylinder
- Rod shaped bacteria
- Scarabaeus curve{{cite web |url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Scarabaeus.html |title=Scarabaeus |work=MathWorld |publisher=Wolfram |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20 |archive-date=2012-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113000043/http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Scarabaeus.html |url-status=dead }} resembling a scarab
- Serpentine, shaped like a snake
- Stadium, two half-circles joined by straight sides{{cite web|url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Stadium.html |title=Stadium – from Wolfram MathWorld |publisher=Mathworld.wolfram.com |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20}}
- Stirrup curve{{cite web|url=http://mathworld.wolfram.com/StirrupCurve.html |title=Stirrup Curve |work=MathWorld |publisher=Wolfram |date=2013-05-08 |access-date=2013-05-20}}
- Star a 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
- A-frame, the shape of a common structure that resembles the capital letter A
- A-frame house, a common style of house construction
- A-line skirt or dress
- 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
- Deltahedron
- Deltoid muscle
- River delta
- Delta wing
- 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 beam with H-shaped section
- Goals in several sports (gridiron football (old style), Gaelic football, rugby, hurling) are described as "H-shaped"
- H topology in electronic filter design
- Also see Balbis
- I-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter {{Ibeam}} in a serif font, i.e., with horizontal strokes
- {{Ibeam}}-beam, a beam with an {{Ibeam}}-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
- L-beam, a beam with an L-shaped section
- 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
- O-ring
- 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
{{anchor|T-shape}}
- T-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter T
- T junction
- T topology in electronic filter design
- T-shaped (chemistry)
- T-shaped skills, a format for 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
- Hyoid bone
- 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
- V-tail
- 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
- Chiasm, crossings that resemble the Greek letter χ
- Chiasmus
- Chiastic structure
- Optic chiasm
- Y-shape, the shape that resembles the letter Y
- Y-front briefs
- 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