SYMMETRY


Meaning of SYMMETRY in English

I. ˈsimə.trē, -ri noun

( -es )

Etymology: Latin symmetria, from Greek, commensurability, proportion, symmetry, from symmetros commensurate, suitable, symmetrical (from syn- + metron measure) + -ia -y — more at measure

1.

a. obsolete : mutual relationship of parts (as in size, arrangement, or measurements) : proportion

b. : due or balanced proportions : beauty of form or arrangement arising from balanced proportions

with order, symmetry , and taste unblest — Robert Burns

2. : correspondence in size, shape, and relative position of parts that are on opposite sides of a dividing line or median plane or that are distributed about a center or axis : an arrangement or external form (as in a body, a design, or a grouping) marked by bilateral conformity or geometrical regularity — see bilateral symmetry , radial symmetry

3. : the property of being symmetrical

4. : the property of a crystal of having two or more directions that are alike in physical and crystallographic respects because of identity of atomic structure in the directions concerned or mirror-image relations along such directions

II. noun

1. : a rigid motion of a geometric figure that determines a one-to-one mapping onto itself

2. : interchangeability of particles and equivalence of interactions existing between forces of nature at very high energies

3. : the property of remaining invariant under certain changes (as of orientation in space, of the sign of the electric charge, of parity, or of the direction of time flow) — used of physical phenomena and of equations describing them

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.