Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A measure of spatial extent, especially width, height, or length.
  • noun Extent or magnitude; scope.
  • noun Aspect; element.
  • noun The least number of independent coordinates required to specify uniquely the points in a space.
  • noun The range of such a coordinate.
  • noun Physics A physical property, such as mass, length, time, or a combination thereof, regarded as a fundamental measure or as one of a set of fundamental measures of a physical quantity.
  • transitive verb To cut or shape to specified dimensions.
  • transitive verb To mark with specified dimensions.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Magnitude measured along a diameter; the measure through a body or closed figure along one of its principal axes; length, breadth, or thickness.
  • noun Hence A mode of linear magnitude involved (generally along with others) in the quantity to which it belongs.
  • noun Bulk; size; extent or capacity: commonly in the plural: as, the question is assuming great dimensions.
  • noun That which has extension; matter; especially, the human body and its organs: so often in the plural.
  • To measure the dimensions of; proportion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun 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
  • noun extension that has length but no breadth or thickness; a straight or curved line.
  • noun extension which has length and breadth, but no thickness; a plane or curved surface.
  • noun extension which has length, breadth, and thickness; a solid.
  • noun 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.
  • noun Extent; reach; scope; importance.
  • noun (Math.) The degree of manifoldness of a quantity
  • noun (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, a2b2c is a term of five dimensions, or of the fifth degree.
  • noun (Phys.) The manifoldness with which the fundamental units of time, length, and mass are involved in determining the units of other physical quantities.
  • noun (Carp.) lumber for building, etc., cut to the sizes usually in demand, or to special sizes as ordered.
  • noun stone delivered from the quarry rough, but brought to such sizes as are requisite for cutting to dimensions given.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A single aspect of a given thing.
  • noun A measure of spatial extent in a particular direction, such as height, width or breadth, or depth.
  • noun A construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished.
  • noun geometry The number of independent coordinates needed to specify uniquely the location of a point in a space; also, any of such independent coordinates.
  • noun linear algebra The number of elements of any basis of a vector space.
  • noun physics One of the physical properties that are regarded as fundamental measures of a physical quantity, such as mass, length and time.
  • noun computing Any of the independent ranges of indices in a multidimensional array.
  • noun science fiction, fantasy An alternative universe or plane of existence.
  • verb transitive To mark, cut or shape something to specified dimensions.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished
  • noun one of three Cartesian coordinates that determine a position in space
  • noun magnitude or extent
  • verb indicate the dimensions on
  • verb shape or form to required dimensions
  • noun the magnitude of something in a particular direction (especially length or width or height)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English dimensioun, from Latin dīmēnsiō, dīmēnsiōn-, extent, from dīmēnsus, past participle of dīmētīrī, to measure out : dī-, dis-, dis- + mētīrī, to measure; see mē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin dimensio, dimensionis.

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Examples

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  • Criterion: criteria :: dimension : dimensia

    January 5, 2009

  • Measurment of a size of a thing

    July 8, 2014