Dictionary


sym•met•ri•cal



Pronunciation: (si-me'tri-kul), [key]
—adj.
1. characterized by or exhibiting symmetry; well-proportioned, as a body or whole; regular in form or arrangement of corresponding parts.
2. Geom.
a. noting two points in a plane such that the line segment joining the points is bisected by an axis: Points (1, 1) and (1, -1) are symmetrical with respect to the x-axis.
b. noting a set consisting of pairs of points having this relation with respect to the same axis.
c. noting two points in a plane such that the line segment joining the points is bisected by a point or center: The points (1, 1) and (-1, -1) are symmetrical with respect to (0, 0).
d. noting a set consisting of pairs of points having this relation with respect to the same center.
3. Often, symmetric. Math.
a. noting a square matrix that is equal to its transpose.
b. noting a dyad or dyadic that is equal to its conjugate.
c. noting a relation in which one element in relation to a second implies the second in relation to the first.
4. Bot.
a. divisible into two similar parts by more than one plane passing through the center; actinomorphic.
b. (of a flower) having the same number of parts in each whorl.
5. Chem.
a. having a structure that exhibits a regular repeated pattern of the component parts.
b. noting a benzene derivative in which three substitutions have occurred at alternate carbon atoms.
6. affecting corresponding parts simultaneously, as certain diseases. Also,sym•met'ric.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

Symmetrelsymmetric difference
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