VERTEX

vertex

(noun) the point of intersection of lines or the point opposite the base of a figure

vertex, peak, apex, acme

(noun) the highest point (of something); “at the peak of the pyramid”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

vertex (plural vertices or vertexes)

The highest point of something.

(anatomy) The highest surface on the skull.

(geometry) The common point of the two rays of the angle, or its equivalent structure in polyhedra (meeting of edges) and higher order polytopes.

(mathematics) A point on the curve with a local minimum or maximum of curvature.

(graph theory) One of the elements of a graph joined or not by edges to other vertices.

(computer graphics) A point in 3D space, usually given in terms of its Cartesian coordinates.

(optics) The point where the surface of a lens crosses the optical axis.

(nuclear or particle physics) An interaction point.

(astrology) The point where the prime vertical meets the ecliptic in the western hemisphere of a natal chart.

(typography) A sharp downward point opposite a crotch, as in the letters "V" and "W" but not "Y".

Synonyms

• (highest point): acme, apex, peak, top

• (element of a graph): node

Coordinate terms

• (element of a graph): plot

• (sharp downward point): apex

Source: Wiktionary

Ver"tex, n.; pl. Vertexes, L. Vertices. Etym: [L. vertex, -icis, a whirl, top of the head, top, summit, from vertere to turn. See Verse, and cf. Vortex.]

Definition: A turning point; the principal or highest point; top; summit; crown; apex. Specifically: --(a) (Anat.)

Definition: The top, or crown, of the head. (b) (Anat.) The zenith, or the point of the heavens directly overhead. (c) (Math.) The point in any figure opposite to, and farthest from, the base; the terminating point of some particular line or lines in a figure or a curve; the top, or the point opposite the base.

Note: The principal vertex of a conic section is, in the parabola, the vertex of the axis of the curve: in the ellipse, either extremity of either axis, but usually the left-hand vertex of the transverse axis; in the hyperbola, either vertex, but usually the right-hand vertex of the transverse axis. Vertex of a curve (Math.), the point in which the axis of the curve intersects it.

– Vertex of an angle (Math.), the point in which the sides of the angle meet.

– Vertex of a solid, or of a surface of revolution (Math.), the point in which the axis pierces the surface.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition