geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

, a

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

is traditionally a plane

figure Figure may refer to: General *A shape, drawing, depiction, or geometric configuration *Figure (wood), wood appearance *Figure (music), distinguished from musical motif * Noise figure, in telecommunication * Dance figure, an elementary dance patt ...

that is bounded by a finite chain of straight

line segment In geometry, a line segment is a part of a line (mathematics), straight line that is bounded by two distinct endpoints (its extreme points), and contains every Point (geometry), point on the line that is between its endpoints. It is a special c ...

s closing in a loop to form a closed chain. These segments are called its ''edges'' or ''sides'', and the points where two of the edges meet are the polygon's '' vertices'' (singular: vertex) or ''corners''. The word ''polygon'' comes from

Late Latin Late Latin is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, and continuing into the 7th century in ...

''polygōnum'' (a noun), from

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

πολύγωνον (''polygōnon/polugōnon''), noun use of neuter of πολύγωνος (''polygōnos/polugōnos'', the masculine adjective), meaning "many-angled". Individual polygons are named (and sometimes classified) according to the number of sides, combining a

-derived numerical prefix with the suffix ''-gon'', e.g. ''

pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

'', ''

dodecagon In geometry, a dodecagon, or 12-gon, is any twelve-sided polygon. Regular dodecagon A regular polygon, regular dodecagon is a figure with sides of the same length and internal angles of the same size. It has twelve lines of reflective symmetry ...

''. The

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

quadrilateral In Euclidean geometry, geometry a quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon, having four Edge (geometry), edges (sides) and four Vertex (geometry), corners (vertices). The word is derived from the Latin words ''quadri'', a variant of four, and ''l ...

and

nonagon In geometry, a nonagon () or enneagon () is a nine-sided polygon or 9-gon. The name ''nonagon'' is a prefix Hybrid word, hybrid formation, from Latin (''nonus'', "ninth" + ''gonon''), used equivalently, attested already in the 16th century in Fre ...

are exceptions, although the regular forms ''trigon'', ''tetragon'', and ''enneagon'' are sometimes encountered as well.

Greek numbers

Polygons are primarily named by prefixes from Ancient Greek numbers.

Systematic polygon names

To construct the name of a polygon with more than 20 and fewer than 100 edges, combine the prefixes as follows. The "kai" connector is not included by some authors. Extending the system up to 999 is expressed with these prefixes.

List of n-gons by Greek numerical prefixes

References

NAMING POLYGONS
* Benjamin Franklin Finkel
A Mathematical Solution Book Containing Systematic Solutions to Many of the Most Difficult Problems
1888 {{Polygons

Polygons In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon' ...

Greek numbers

Systematic polygon names

List of n-gons by Greek numerical prefixes

See also

References