Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

s: these

shape A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type. A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie ...

s 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 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

, etc. These terms may variously refer to objects, their cross sections or projections.

Types of shapes

Some of these names are "classical terms", i.e., words of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

. Others are

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

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 Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

leaves in

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

. *

Astroid In mathematics, an astroid is a particular type of roulette curve: a hypocycloid with four cusps. Specifically, it is the locus of a point on a circle as it rolls inside a fixed circle with four times the radius. By double generation, it ...

* 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 A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

truncated cone In geometry, a (from the Latin for "morsel"; plural: ''frusta'' or ''frustums'') is the portion of a solid (normally a pyramid or a cone) that lies between two parallel planes cutting this solid. In the case of a pyramid, the base faces are p ...

s with their bases joined; the cones are not necessarily the same ** Bowtie shape, in two dimensions ** Atmospheric reentry apparatus ** Centerbody of an

inlet cone Inlet cones (sometimes called shock cones or inlet centerbodies) are a component of some supersonic aircraft and missiles. They are primarily used on ramjets, such as the D-21 Tagboard and Lockheed X-7. Some turbojet aircraft including the Su-7 ...

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an as ...

s * Bow shape **

Bow curve In algebraic geometry, a quartic plane curve is a plane algebraic curve of the fourth degree. It can be defined by a bivariate quartic equation: :Ax^4+By^4+Cx^3y+Dx^2y^2+Exy^3+Fx^3+Gy^3+Hx^2y+Ixy^2+Jx^2+Ky^2+Lxy+Mx+Ny+P=0, with at least one ...

* Bullet Nose an open-ended hourglass *

Butterfly curve (algebraic) In mathematics, the algebraic butterfly curve is a plane algebraic curve of degree six, given by the equation :x^6 + y^6 = x^2. The butterfly curve has a single singularity with delta invariant three, which means it is a curve of genus se ...

* Cocked hat curve, also known as Bicorn *

Cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines con ...

(from the Greek word for «

pine cone A conifer cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants. It is usually woody, ovoid to globular, including scales and bracts arranged around a central axis, especially in conifers an ...

») * Doughnut shape *

Egg-shaped An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one ...

, see "Oval", below *

Geoid The geoid () is the shape that the ocean surface would take under the influence of the gravity of Earth, including gravitational attraction and Earth's rotation, if other influences such as winds and tides were absent. This surface is extended ...

(From Greek Ge (γη) for "

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

"), the term specifically introduced to denote the approximation of the shape of the

, 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) * 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 Figure 8 (figure of 8 in British English) may refer to: * 8 (number), in Arabic numerals Entertainment * ''Figure 8'' (album), a 2000 album by Elliott Smith * "Figure of Eight" (song), a 1989 song by Paul McCartney * '' Figure Eight EP'', ...

or hourglass ** Dog bone shape, an hourglass with rounded ends **

Hourglass corset An hourglass corset is a garment that produces a silhouette resembling an hourglass shape characterized by wide hips, narrow waist (wasp waist), and wide bust. History Hourglass corsets first became fashionable in the 1830s in Europe and the ...

Ntama The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...

** Hourglass Nebula *

Inverted bell The inverted bell is a metaphorical name for geometric shape that resembles a bell upside-down. By context In architecture, the term is applied to describe the shape of the capitals of Corinthian columns. The inverted bell is used in shape classi ...

* Lens or Vesica shape (the latter taking its name from the shape of the

lentil The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest pro ...

seed); see also

mandorla A mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with '' vesica'', a lens shape. Mandorlas often surround the figures of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in tr ...

, almond-shaped *

Lune Lune may refer to: Rivers *River Lune, in Lancashire and Cumbria, England *River Lune, Durham, in County Durham, England *Lune (Weser), a 43 km-long tributary of the Weser in Germany * Lune River (Tasmania), in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia P ...

, from the Latin word for the Moon * Maltese Cross curve *

Mandorla A mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with '' vesica'', a lens shape. Mandorlas often surround the figures of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in tr ...

, 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 A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud of debris, smoke and usually condensed water vapor resulting from a large explosion. The effect is most commonly associated with a nuclear explosion, but any sufficiently ener ...

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one ...

(from the Latin "ovum" for

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

), a descriptive term applied to several kinds of "rounded" shapes, including the egg shape * Pear shaped, in reference to the shape of a

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

, i.e., a generally rounded shape, tapered towards the top and more spherical/circular at the bottom * Rod, a 3-

dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coor ...

al,

solid Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural ...

(filled)

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

** Rod shaped bacteria * Scarabaeus curve resembling a scarab * Serpentine, shaped like a snake * Stadium, two half-circles joined by straight sides * Stirrup curve * Star a figure with multiple sharp points * Sunburst *

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...

Numbers and letters

* A-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter A **

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...

, the shape of a common structure that resembles the capital letter A **

A-frame house An A-frame house or other A-frame building is an architectural house or building style featuring steeply-angled sides (roofline) that usually begin at or near the foundation line, and meet at the top in the shape of the letter A. An A-frame ...

, a common style of house construction **

A-line skirt An A-line skirt is a skirt that is fitted at the hips and gradually widens towards the hem, giving the impression of the shape of a capital letter A. The term is also used to describe dresses and coat (clothing), coats with a similar shape. His ...

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 A D-ring is a D-shaped metal ring used primarily as a lashing point in a tie-down system. Depending on their function D-rings may vary in composition, geometry, weight, finish, and load capacity. They may be screwed or welded in place, or attach ...

* Deltoid, the shape that resembles the Greek capital letter Δ **

Deltahedron In geometry, a deltahedron (plural ''deltahedra'') is a polyhedron whose faces are all equilateral triangles. The name is taken from the Greek upper case delta (Δ), which has the shape of an equilateral triangle. There are infinitely many d ...

Deltoid muscle The deltoid muscle is the muscle forming the rounded contour of the human shoulder. It is also known as the 'common shoulder muscle', particularly in other animals such as the domestic cat. Anatomically, the deltoid muscle appears to be made up o ...

River delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ra ...

** Delta wing * E-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter E ** Magnetic cores of

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s may be E-shaped ** A number of notable buildings have an E-shaped

floorplan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

* 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 An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish, Bulgarian, Spanish, Italian and German), is a beam with an or -shaped ...

, a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

with -shaped section **

Goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

in several sports ( gridiron football (old style), Gaelic football,

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, hurling) are described as "H-shaped" ** H topology in electronic filter design ** Also see

Balbis In geometry, a balbis is a geometric shape that can be colloquially defined as a single (primary) line that is terminated by a (secondary) line at one endpoint and by a (secondary) line at the other endpoint. The terminating secondary lines are a ...

* I-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter I in a

serif font In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ...

, i.e., with horizontal strokes ** -beam, a beam with an -shaped section ** The court in the

Mesoamerican ballgame The Mesoamerican ballgame ( nah, ōllamalīztli, , myn, pitz) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BC by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different places during ...

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 **

The L-Shaped Room ''The L-Shaped Room'' is a 1962 British film directed by Bryan Forbes, based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. It tells the story of Jane Fosset ( Leslie Caron), a young French woman, unmarried and pregnant, who moves in ...

L game The L game is a simple abstract strategy board game invented by Edward de Bono. It was introduced in his book ''The Five-Day Course in Thinking'' (1967). Description The L game is a two-player game played on a board of 4×4 squares. Each playe ...

** L-shaped recession * Lemniscate, the shape that resembles the

infinity symbol The infinity symbol (\infty) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a lemniscate, after the lemniscate curves of a similar shape studied in algebraic geometry, or "lazy eight", in the terminol ...

* 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 An O-ring, also known as a packing or a toric joint, is a mechanical gasket in the shape of a torus; it is a loop of elastomer with a round cross-section, designed to be seated in a groove and compressed during assembly between two or more par ...

* P-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter P **

P-trap In plumbing, a trap is a U-shaped portion of pipe designed to trap liquid or gas to prevent unwanted flow; most notably sewer gases from entering buildings while allowing waste materials to pass through. In oil refineries, traps are used to p ...

, 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 In the textile arts, plying (from the French verb ''plier'', "to fold", from the Latin verb ''plico'', from the ancient Greek verb .) is a process of twisting one or more String (structure), strings (called strands) of yarn together to create a str ...

, contrasted with Z-twist for yarn * T-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter **

T junction A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T i ...

** T topology in electronic filter design ** T-shaped (chemistry) **

T-shaped skills The concept of T-shaped skills, or T-shaped persons is a metaphor used in job recruitment to describe the abilities of persons in the workforce. The vertical bar on the letter ''T'' represents the depth of related skills and expertise in a single ...

, a format for résumés **

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

T-pose In computer animation, a T-pose, also known as a bind pose or reference pose, is a default posing for a 3D model's skeleton before it is animated. It is called so because of its shape: the straight legs and arms of a humanoid model combine to ...

, used in computer animation models * U-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter U **

U-shaped valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a ...

** 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 Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

(which includes the inverted-V shape) **

V-shaped valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

** V-shaped recession ** V-shaped body – male human body shape with broad shoulders **

V-shaped passage grave V-shaped passage graves are a type of megalithic chamber tomb found in parts of Atlantic Europe including Ireland, the Channel Islands and Brittany. They date to between 3500 and 2500BC. They are similar to Wedge-shaped gallery graves in that in ...

V sign The ''V sign'' is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When displa ...

* W-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter W (interchangeable with the M-shape) **

W-shaped recession Recession shapes or recovery shapes are used by economists to describe different types of recessions and their subsequent recoveries. There is no specific academic theory or classification system for recession shapes; rather the terminology is us ...

* X-shape, the shape that resembles the letter X **

Saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltatori ...

** X topology in electronic filter design * Chiasm, crossings that resemble the Greek letter χ **

Chiasmus In rhetoric, chiasmus ( ) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek , "crossing", from the Greek , , "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of wor ...

Chiastic structure Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', being presented as A,B,B',A'. Chia ...

Optic chiasm In neuroanatomy, the optic chiasm, or optic chiasma (; , ), is the part of the brain where the optic nerves cross. It is located at the bottom of the brain immediately inferior to the hypothalamus. The optic chiasm is found in all vertebrat ...

* Y-shape, the shape that resembles the letter Y ** Y-front briefs **

Pall Pall may refer to: * Pall (funeral), a cloth used to cover a coffin * Pall (heraldry), a Y-shaped heraldic charge * Pall (liturgy), a piece of stiffened linen used to cover the chalice at the Eucharist * Pall Corporation, a global business * Pall. ...

* Z-shape ** the shape that resembles the capital letter Z (interchangeable with the N-shape) ** Z-twist, contrasted with S-twist for yarn

References

{{Reflist

Shapes A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type. A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie o ...

Glossary

Types of shapes

Numbers and letters

See also

References