rectangle vs. square

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:45 AM +0100 6/27/10, Robin Hamilton wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail
>>header -----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
>>Subject:      Re: rectangle vs. square
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>And then there's the other side of it. Looking at it from another angle:
>>
>>rhombus (from M-W Online)
>>Date: circa 1567*
>>:* a parallelogram with four equal sides and sometimes one with no right
>>angles
>>
>>rhomboid (ibid.)
>>Date: 1570*
>>:* a parallelogram with no right angles and with adjacent sides of unequal
>>length
>>
>>m a m
>>
>>PS: They spell it "Wiktionary", with a "k"
>
>Oops -- my bad!
>
>Interestingly, the earliest OED cite for "rectangle", defined as:  "1. A
>plane figure with four straight sides and four right angles, opposite sides
>being parallel and equal in length ...." specifically *excludes a square:
>
>?a1560 L. DIGGES Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) I. Defs. sig. Biijv, If
>one side containing the right Angle, be longer than the other containing
>side, then is that figure called a Rectangle.

Not "if and only if", though.

LH

>
>Be interesting to check Digges' quotation in context, and see what he's
>contrasting a rectangle to.  It raises the question of when a rectangle
>first came to be thought of as including a square (even if it no longer does
>sometimes and somewheres).
>
>Robin
>
>>On Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at 8:49 PM, Robin Hamilton <
>>robin.hamilton3 at virginmedia.com> wrote:
>>
>>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail
>>>>  header -----------------------
>>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>  Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>>>>  Subject:      Re: rectangle vs. square
>>>>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>  First, when did "rectangle" ever include "oblong"?
>>>
>>>Wictionary:  OBLONG:  2.  A rectangle having length greater than width.
>>>
>>>Thus, the set of Rectangles is (fully) comprised of two exclusive
>>>subsets:
>>>Squares [rectangles with four equal sides] and Oblongs [rectangles with
>>>sides of two equal lengths -- i.e. all members of the set 'Rectangle'
>>>which
>>>aren't members of the subset, 'Square'].
>>>
>>>>  Second, what would be the justification for using "ellipse" when
>>>>  describing
>>>>  a circle, or rectangle for square? It may be correct, but it's not
>>>>  informative.
>>>
>>>It makes perfect sense if you think in Venn diagrams.  <g>
>>>
>>>
>>
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