- Dimension
- Dimension Di*men"sion, n. [L. dimensio, fr. dimensus, p. p. of
dimetiri to measure out; di- = dis- + metiri to measure: cf.
F. dimension. See {Measure}.]
1. Measure in a single line, as length, breadth, height,
thickness, or circumference; extension; measurement; --
usually, in the plural, measure in length and breadth, or
in length, breadth, and thickness; extent; size; as, the
dimensions of a room, or of a ship; the dimensions of a
farm, of a kingdom.
[1913 Webster]
Gentlemen of more than ordinary dimensions. --W. Irving. [1913 Webster]
{Space of dimension}, extension that has length but no breadth or thickness; a straight or curved line.
{Space of two dimensions}, extension which has length and breadth, but no thickness; a plane or curved surface.
{Space of three dimensions}, extension which has length, breadth, and thickness; a solid.
{Space of four dimensions}, as imaginary kind of extension, which is assumed to have length, breadth, thickness, and also a fourth imaginary dimension. Space of five or six, or more dimensions is also sometimes assumed in mathematics. [1913 Webster]
2. Extent; reach; scope; importance; as, a project of large dimensions. [1913 Webster]
3. (Math.) The degree of manifoldness of a quantity; as, time is quantity having one dimension; volume has three dimensions, relative to extension. [1913 Webster]
4. (Alg.) A literal factor, as numbered in characterizing a term. The term dimensions forms with the cardinal numbers a phrase equivalent to degree with the ordinal; thus, a^{2}b^{2}c is a term of five dimensions, or of the fifth degree. [1913 Webster]
5. pl. (Phys.) The manifoldness with which the fundamental units of time, length, and mass are involved in determining the units of other physical quantities.
Note: Thus, since the unit of velocity varies directly as the unit of length and inversely as the unit of time, the dimensions of velocity are said to be length [divby] time; the dimensions of work are mass [times] (length)^{2} [divby] (time)^{2}; the dimensions of density are mass [divby] (length)^{3}.
{Dimensional lumber}, {Dimension lumber}, {Dimension scantling}, or {Dimension stock} (Carp.), lumber for building, etc., cut to the sizes usually in demand, or to special sizes as ordered.
{Dimension stone}, stone delivered from the quarry rough, but brought to such sizes as are requisite for cutting to dimensions given. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
