Archimedean

American  

[ahr-kuh-mee-dee-uhn, -mi-dee-uhn] / ˌɑr kəˈmi di ən, -mɪˈdi ən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or discovered by Archimedes.

2. Mathematics. of or relating to any ordered field, as the field of real numbers, having the property that for any two unequal positive elements there is an integral multiple of the smaller which is greater than the larger.

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Etymology

Origin of Archimedean

First recorded in 1805–15; Archimede(s) + -an

Example Sentences

“Imagine the equation, or picture the graph, of the Archimedean spiral,” Serpell, a Harvard English professor, writes in the novel’s closing paragraph.

From Washington Post • Sep. 22, 2022

It’s a bit of collateral resonance, then, that by imagining viewing the Earth from an Archimedean point, astronomers move the Earth, too, if the Earth is the world from which we view the cosmos.

From Slate • Aug. 20, 2021

I should note that while most mathematicians have agreed that the term Archimedean should refer only to the 13 polyhedra Archimedes listed, the ones that satisfy the global symmetry condition, there are dissenters.

From Scientific American • Mar. 31, 2018

This is referred to as an Archimedean spiral, after the Greek mathematician Archimedes.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

While he was lecturing Frank and Percy on Archimedean mechanics, Hazel stared at the stone archway and muttered under her breath.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan