Pythagorean

[ pi-thag-uh-ree-uhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to Pythagoras, to his school, or to his doctrines.

noun

1. a follower of Pythagoras.

Pythagorean

/ paɪˌθæɡəˈriːən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Pythagoras
2. denoting the diatonic scale of eight notes arrived at by Pythagoras and based on a succession of fifths

noun

1. a follower of Pythagoras

Other Words From

• post-Py·thago·rean adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pythagorean¹

1540–50; < Latin Pȳthagorē ( us ) (< Greek Pȳthagóreios of Pythagoras) + -an

Example Sentences

The Big John experience led to job training and apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, learning everything from the Pythagorean theorem to power line safety: “How a bird that sits on a power line doesn’t get hurt because he’s part of the circuit. But if you touch him it will kill you.”

From Los Angeles Times

Typically employed in the standard forms in which any contractor could order them from a foundry or quarry, the materials were arranged directly on the ground, with a plainness and Pythagorean purity that brought to mind cairns or sacred tessellation.

From New York Times

“You and her have very different perceptions. You guys are both grown . . . I understand there’s nuances and things are situational. Like, you know, this isn't Pythagorean theorem going on, but this is like multi-dimensional calculus. You're in the X direction, she's in a Y direction and I’m the Z direction. Like, I’m not even adjacent. I’m just like on a different parallel. It’s all perception.”

From Salon

Two high school students have proved the Pythagorean theorem in a way that one early 20th-century mathematician thought was impossible: using trigonometry.

From Scientific American

If verified, Johnson and Jackson’s proof would contradict mathematician and educator Elisha Loomis, who stated in his 1927 book The Pythagorean Proposition that no trigonometric proof of the Pythagorean theorem could be correct.

From Scientific American