Adjacent Words

metacentre definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (shipbuilding) the point of intersection between two vertical lines, one line through the center of buoyancy of the hull of a ship in equilibrium and the other line through the center of buoyancy of the hull when the ship is inclined to one side; the distance of this intersection above the center of gravity is an indication of the stability of the ship [syn: metacenter, metacentre]

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (US metacenter) the point of intersection between a line (vertical in equilibrium) through the centre of gravity of a floating body and a vertical line through the centre of pressure after a slight angular displacement, which must be above the centre of gravity to ensure stability. Derivatives: metacentric adj. Etymology: F métacentre (as META-, CENTRE)