Adjacent Words

Vertex definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VERT'EX, n. [L. from veto, to turn; primarily a round point.]
1. The crown or top of the head.
2. The top of a hill or other thing; the point of a cone, pyramid, angle or figure; the pole of a glass, in optics. The vertex of a curve, is the point from which the diameter is drawn, or the intersection of the diameter and the curve.
3. In astronomy, the zenith; the point of the heavens perpendicularly over the head.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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: vertex, peak, apex, acme]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural vertices; also vertexes) Etymology: Middle English, top of the head, from Latin vertic-, vertex, vortic-, vortex whirl, whirlpool, top of the head, summit, from vertere to turn Date: 14th century 1. the top of the head 2. a. the point opposite to and farthest from the base in a figure b. a point (as of an angle, polygon, polyhedron, graph, or network) that terminates a line or curve or comprises the intersection of two or more lines or curves c. a point where an axis of an ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola intersects the curve itself 3. a principal or highest point ; summit <the vertex of the hill>

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) In artillery and naval gunfire support, the highest point in the trajectory of a projectile.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. vertices or vertexes) 1 the highest point; the top or apex. 2 Geom. a each angular point of a polygon, polyhedron, etc. b a meeting-point of two lines that form an angle. c the point at which an axis meets a curve or surface. 3 Anat. the crown of the head. Etymology: L vertex -ticis whirlpool, crown of a head, vertex, f. vertere turn

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vertex Ver"tex, n.; pl. 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: (a) (Anat.) The top, or crown, of the head. (b) (Anat.) The zenith, or the point of the heavens directly overhead. (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. 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. 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 of a surface of revolution (Math.), the point in which the axis pierces the surface.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Point. 2. Top, summit, crown. 3. Crown of the head. 4. Zenith.

Moby Thesaurus

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