PERPENDICULAR

perpendicular

(adjective) so steep as to be nearly veritcal; “the great perpendicular face of the cliff”

vertical, perpendicular

(adjective) at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line; “a vertical camera angle”; “the monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab”; “measure the perpendicular height”

perpendicular

(adjective) intersecting at or forming right angles; “the axes are perpendicular to each other”

perpendicular

(noun) an extremely steep face

perpendicular, perpendicular style, English-Gothic, English-Gothic architecture

(noun) a Gothic style in 14th and 15th century England; characterized by vertical lines and a four-centered (Tudor) arch and fan vaulting

perpendicular

(noun) a straight line at right angles to another line

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

perpendicular (comparative more perpendicular, superlative most perpendicular)

(geometry) at or forming a right angle (to something).

Synonyms: normal, orthogonal

Exactly upright; extending in a straight line toward the centre of the earth, etc.

Independent of or irrelevant to each other; orthogonal.

Noun

perpendicular (plural perpendiculars)

(geometry) A line or plane that is perpendicular to another.

A device such as a plumb line that is used in making or marking a perpendicular line.

Adjective

Perpendicular (comparative more Perpendicular, superlative most Perpendicular)

(architecture) Of a style of English Gothic architecture from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, marked by stiff and rectilinear lines, mostly vertical window-tracery, depressed or four-centre arch, fan-tracery vaulting, and panelled walls.

Source: Wiktionary

Per`pen*dic"u*lar, a. Etym: [L. perpendicularis, perpendicularius: cf. F. perpendiculaire. See Perpendicle, Pension.]

1. Exactly upright or vertical; pointing to the zenith; at right angles to the plane of the horizon; extending in a right line from any point toward the center of the earth.

2. (Geom.)

Definition: At right angles to a given line or surface; as, the line ad is perpendicular to the line bc. Perpendicular style (Arch.), a name given to the latest variety of English Gothic architecture, which prevailed from the close of the 14th century to the early part of the 16th; -- probably so called from the vertical style of its window mullions.

Per`pen*dic"u*lar, n.

1. A line at right angles to the plane of the horizon; a vertical line or direction.

2. (Geom.)

Definition: A line or plane falling at right angles on another line or surface, or making equal angles with it on each side.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition