catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Dimension \Di*men"sion\, n. [L. dimensio, fr. dimensus, p. p. of
     dimetiri to measure out; di- = dis- + metiri to measure: cf.
     F. dimension. See Measure.]
     1. Measure in a single line, as length, breadth, height,
        thickness, or circumference; extension; measurement; --
        usually, in the plural, measure in length and breadth, or
        in length, breadth, and thickness; extent; size; as, the
        dimensions of a room, or of a ship; the dimensions of a
        farm, of a kingdom.
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              Gentlemen of more than ordinary dimensions. --W.
                                                    Irving.
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     Space of dimension, extension that has length but no
        breadth or thickness; a straight or curved line.
  
     Space of two dimensions, extension which has length and
        breadth, but no thickness; a plane or curved surface.
  
     Space of three dimensions, extension which has length,
        breadth, and thickness; a solid.
  
     Space of four dimensions, as imaginary kind of extension,
        which is assumed to have length, breadth, thickness, and
        also a fourth imaginary dimension. Space of five or six,
        or more dimensions is also sometimes assumed in
        mathematics.
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     2. Extent; reach; scope; importance; as, a project of large
        dimensions.
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     3. (Math.) The degree of manifoldness of a quantity; as, time
        is quantity having one dimension; volume has three
        dimensions, relative to extension.
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     4. (Alg.) A literal factor, as numbered in characterizing a
        term. The term dimensions forms with the cardinal numbers
        a phrase equivalent to degree with the ordinal; thus,
        a^{2b^{2}c is a term of five dimensions, or of the fifth
        degree.
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     5. pl. (Phys.) The manifoldness with which the fundamental
        units of time, length, and mass are involved in
        determining the units of other physical quantities.
  
     Note: Thus, since the unit of velocity varies directly as the
           unit of length and inversely as the unit of time, the
           dimensions of velocity are said to be length [divby]
           time; the dimensions of work are mass [times]
           (length)^{2 [divby] (time)^{2}; the dimensions of
           density are mass [divby] (length)^{3.
  
     Dimensional lumber, Dimension lumber, Dimension
     scantling, or Dimension stock (Carp.), lumber for
        building, etc., cut to the sizes usually in demand, or to
        special sizes as ordered.
  
     Dimension stone, stone delivered from the quarry rough, but
        brought to such sizes as are requisite for cutting to
        dimensions given.
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     Dimension lumber, Dimension scantling, or Dimension
     stock (Carp.), lumber for building, etc., cut to the sizes
        usually in demand, or to special sizes as ordered.
  
     Dimension stone, stone delivered from the quarry rough, but
        brought to such sizes as are requisite for cutting to
        dimensions given.