- Glossary of shapes with metaphorical names
Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are
metaphor s: theseshape s are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letterU , abell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertical cross-section of a bell, etc.These terms may variously refer to objects, their
cross-section s orprojection s.Some of these names are "classical terms", i.e., words of
Latin orAncient Greek etymology . Others areEnglish language constructs (although the base words may have non-English etymology). In some disciplines, where shapes of subjects in question are a very important consideration, the shape naming may be quite elaborate, see, e.g., the taxonomy of shapes ofplant leaves inbotany .*
Astroid
*Bell-shaped curve
*Biconic shape, a shape in a way opposite to the hourglass: it is based on two oppositely oriented cones ortruncated cone s with their bases joined. The cones are not necessarily the same.
**Bowtie shape, in two dimensions
**Atmospheric reentry apparatus
**Centerbody of aninlet cone inramjet s
*Bow shape
**Bow curve
*Bullet Nose [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BulletNose.html †] , an open-ended hourglass
*Butterfly curve [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ButterflyCurve.html †]
*Cocked Hat curve, also known as Bicorn [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Bicorn.html †]
*Cone (from the Greek word for «pine cone »)
*Deltoid
*Egg-shaped , see "Oval", below
*Fish bladder or Lens shape (the latter taking its name from the shape of thelentil seed)
*Geoid (From Greek Ge (γη) for "Earth "), the term specifically introduced to denote the approximation of the shape of theEarth , which is approximately spherical, but not exactly so.
*Heart shape, long been used for its varied symbolism
*Hourglass shape or hourglass figure, the one that resembles anhourglass . If one takes two copies of a shape wide at one end that narrows to the other end and connects them symmetrically by the narrow ends, the resulting shape is usually called an "hourglass shape". In other words, an hourglass shape is a (nearly) symmetric shape wide at its ends and narrow in the middle. Some flat shapes may be alternatively compared to thefigure eight or hourglass. The classicalfemale body shape is often compared to an hourglass.
**Dog bone shape, an hourglass with rounded ends [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CassiniOvals.html †]
**Hourglass corset
**Ntama
**Hourglass Nebula
*Inverted bell
*Lune , from the Latin word for the Moon
*Maltese Cross curve [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MalteseCrossCurve.html †]
*Mushroom shape, which became infamous as a result of themushroom cloud .
*Oval (from the Latin "ovum" for « egg »), a descriptive term applied to several kinds of "rounded" shapes, including theegg shape
*Pear shaped, in reference to the shape of apear , i.e., a generally rounded shape, tapered towards the top and more spherical/circular at the bottom. The term acquired a number of metaphorical meanings.
*Rod, a 3-dimension al,solid (filled) cylinder.
**Rod shaped bacteria
*Scarabaeus curve [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Scarabaeus.html †] , resembling a scarab
*Stadium, two half-circles joined by straight sides [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Stadium.html †]
*Stirrup curve [http://mathworld.wolfram.com/StirrupCurve.html †]
*Sunburst
*TomahawkLetters and numbers
*C-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letter
C
*D-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterD
*E-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterE
**Magnetic core s oftransformer s may be E-shaped
**A number of notable buildings have an E-shapedfloorplan
*H-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterH
**H-beam , a beam with H-shaped section
** Goals in several sports (football ,Gaelic football , rugby,hurling ) are described as "H-shaped"
*I-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterI in aserif font , i.e., with horizontal strokes
**I-beam , a beam with an I-shaped section
**The court in theMesoamerican ballgame is I-shaped
*J-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterJ
*K-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterK
*L-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterL
**The L-Shaped Room
**L game
*N-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterN (interchangeable with the Z-shape)
*S-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterS
*T-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterT
**T junction
**T-shaped (chemistry)
*U-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterU
**U-shaped valley
**U-turn
*V-shape, the shape that resembles the letterV , also known as the Chevron (which includes the inverted-V shape)
**V-shaped valley
**V-shaped passage grave
**V sign
*X-shape, the shape that resembles the letterX , also known as aSaltire
**Sikorsky X-Wing
**Star Wars X-Wing fighter
**X-chair
*Y-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterY and refers to variousbifurcation s, when a narrow shape is split into two at one end. Known as a Pall in heraldry, it is sometimes referred to as "fork ed shape" or simply "fork".
**Y-ligament
**Cleft chin
*Z-shape, the shape that resembles the capital letterZ (interchangeable with the N-shape)
*Figure 8 , called alemniscate in geometry, symbol for infinity when laid on its sideee also
*
List of geometric shapes
*The lists numerous metaphorical names, such as
**Bean curve s, also called Nephroids, from the Greek word for « kidney »
**Crooked egg curve
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