dimension definition

English dimension definition

Etymology

From Latin dīmēnsiō, dīmēnsiōnem.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /daɪˈmɛnʃən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈmɛnʃən/, /daɪˈmɛnʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnʃən

Noun

dimension (plural dimensions)

1. A single aspect of a given thing.

   This film can be enjoyed on many dimensions - the script is great, the acting is realistic, and the special effects will simply take you aback.

2. A measure of spatial extent in a particular direction, such as height, width or breadth, or depth.
   • 1992, Douglas Adams, chapter 17, in Mostly Harmless (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), page 150:

     I can tell you that in your universe you move freely in three dimensions that you call space. […] After that it gets a bit complicated, and there's all sort of stuff going on in dimensions thirteen to twenty-two that you really wouldn't want to know about.

   • 2012 January, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 14 November 2012, page 23:

     We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.

3. A construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished.
4. (geometry) The number of independent coordinates needed to specify uniquely the location of a point in a space; also, any of such independent coordinates.
5. (linear algebra) The number of elements of any basis of a vector space.
6. (physics) One of the physical properties that are regarded as fundamental measures of a physical quantity, such as mass, length and time.

   The dimension of velocity is length divided by time.

7. (computing) Any of the independent ranges of indices in a multidimensional array.
8. (science fiction, fantasy) A universe or plane of existence.

   a machine that lets you travel to a parallel dimension.

   • 1938 July, L. Ron Hubbard, “The Dangerous Dimension”, in Astounding Science-Fiction‎^[2], volume XXI, number 5, Street & Smith, →OCLC, page 105:

     "If a man should wish to be in some other place, it is entirely possible for him to imagine himself in that place and, diving back through the negative dimension, to emerge out of it in that place with instantaneous rapidity. To imagine oneself———"

   • 1988 May 2, Rod Loomis, Michelle Phillips, Gates McFadden, We'll Always Have Paris (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Paramount Domestic Television, →OCLC:

     DR. PAUL MANHEIM: I have been on the other side. I have touched another dimension. Part of me is still there.
     LAURA MANHEIM: Help him.
     DR. CRUSHER: Try to stay calm Dr. Manheim. I don't think it's going to help you're struggling against it.
     DR. PAUL MANHEIM: My mind is floating between two places. It is difficult to know which is which. There is no way to explain it.

   • 2016, A.K. Brown, Jumpstart (Champagne Universe Series: Book 1), page 2:

     He was experimenting with matter transportation through the nth dimension.

Synonyms

• (single aspect of a thing): aspect
• (measure of spatial extent): magnitude, proportion, size, scope
• (construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished): attribute, property

Derived terms

Related terms

• hyperdimension

Translations

Verb

dimension (third-person singular simple present dimensions, present participle dimensioning, simple past and past participle dimensioned)

1. (transitive) To mark, cut or shape something to specified dimensions.
2. (transitive, programming) To specify the size of (an array or similar data structure); to allocate.

   Hyponym: redimension

   • 2002, James D. Foxall, Wendy Haro-Chun, SAMS Teach Yourself C# in 24 Hours, page 268:

     Dimension an array to hold only as much data as you intend to put into it.

Translations

Anagrams

• minisonde

Esperanto dimension definition

Noun

dimension

1. accusative singular of dimensio

Finnish dimension definition

Noun

dimension

1. genitive singular of dimensio

French dimension definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dīmēnsiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.mɑ̃.sjɔ̃/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

dimension f (plural dimensions)

1. dimension

Further reading

• “dimension”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• mendiions
• ondinisme

Occitan dimension definition

Etymology

From Latin dīmensio. Attested from the 14th century.^[1]

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn)

  (file)

Noun

dimension f (plural dimensions)

1. dimension

Related terms

• dimensional
• dimensionar

References

Swedish dimension definition

Noun

dimension c

1. dimension

   Vad har den för dimensioner?

   What are its dimensions?

   Dimension X

   Dimension X

Declension

Declension of dimension
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	dimension	dimensionen	dimensioner	dimensionerna
Genitive	dimensions	dimensionens	dimensioners	dimensionernas

Related terms

• dimensionera

References

• dimension in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• dimension in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• dimension in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)