Home UK English hypotenuse

Meaning of hypotenuse in English:

hypotenuse

Pronunciation /hʌɪˈpɒtənjuːz/ /hʌɪˈpɒtənjuːs/

Translate hypotenuse into Spanish

noun

  • The longest side of a right-angled triangle, opposite the right angle.

    ‘Can we have any other Pythagorean triangles with a Fibonacci number as the hypotenuse (the longest side)?’
    • ‘In fact it is the length of the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle which had sides of length one.’
    • ‘In case you have forgotten your high school geometry, the hypotenuse is the side opposite the right angle.’
    • ‘The square of the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the legs.’
    • ‘He sees the hypotenuse of a right triangle made by the deck, the mast and the front edge of the beam moving down to the deck.’

Origin

Late 16th century via Latin hypotenusa from Greek hupoteinousa (grammē) ‘subtending (line)’, from the verb hupoteinein (from hupo ‘under’ + teinein ‘stretch’).