symmetry : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: symmetry	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for symmetry
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
symmetry n (mathematics) an attribute of a shape or relation; exact reflection of form on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane Synonym(s): symmetry, symmetricalness, correspondence, balance Antonym(s): asymmetry, dissymmetry, imbalance balance among the parts of something Synonym(s): symmetry, proportion Antonym(s): disproportion (physics) the property of being isotropic; having the same value when measured in different directions Synonym(s): isotropy, symmetry Antonym(s): anisotropy
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Symmetry \Sym"me*try\, n. [L. symmetria, Gr. [?]; sy`n with, together + [?] a measure: cf. F. sym[82]trie. See {Syn-}, and {Meter} rhythm.] 1. A due proportion of the several parts of a body to each other; adaptation of the form or dimensions of the several parts of a thing to each other; the union and conformity of the members of a work to the whole. 2. (Biol.) The law of likeness; similarity of structure; regularity in form and arrangement; orderly and similar distribution of parts, such that an animal may be divided into parts which are structurally symmetrical. Note: Bilateral symmetry, or two-sidedness, in vertebrates, etc., is that in which the body can be divided into symmetrical halves by a vertical plane passing through the middle; radial symmetry, as in echinoderms, is that in which the individual parts are arranged symmetrically around a central axis; serial symmetry, or zonal symmetry, as in earthworms, is that in which the segments or metameres of the body are disposed in a zonal manner one after the other in a longitudinal axis. This last is sometimes called metamerism. 3. (Bot.) (a) Equality in the number of parts of the successive circles in a flower. (b) Likeness in the form and size of floral organs of the same kind; regularity. {Axis of symmetry}. (Geom.) See under {Axis}. {Respective symmetry}, that disposition of parts in which only the opposite sides are equal to each other.