Geometry Vocabulary

Point

An undefined term

Line

An undefined term

Plane

An undefined term

Definition

A statement that explains the meaning of a work or phrase

Collinear

Lying on the same line

Coplanar

Lying on the same plane

Line segment

End points and all the points in between them that are on the line segment containing them

Endpoints

The point at the ends of a line segment

Congruent Segments

Line segments that have the same length

Midpoint

The point on the line segment that is the same distance from both ends

Bisect

To cut into two equal parts

Ray

All points on a line that lie on one side of a specific point (the ray's endpoint)

Angle

Two non-collinear rays (the sides) having a common endpoint (the vertex)

Vertex (of an angle)

A point of intersection of two or more rays

Sides (of an angle)

The two rays having a common vertex that form an angle

Measure (of an angle)

The smallest amount of rotation necessary to rotate from one ray of the angle to the other (usually measured in degrees)

Degree

A unit of measure for angles and arcs equivalent to 1/360th of rotation around a circle

Protractor

A tool used to measure the size of an angle in degrees

Congruent angles

Angles that have the same measure

Angle bisector

A ray that has the vertex of the angle as it's endpoint and that divides the angle into two congruent parts

Incoming angle

The angle formed by the path of the approaching object and the surface it rebounds against

Outgoing angle

The angle formed by the path of the rebounding object and the surface it collided with

Classify

A part of a good definition that categorizes something according to some chosen characteristics

Differentiate

A part of a good definition that shows how it is different from other things defined

Counterexample

An example that shows that a conjecture is incorrect or a definition is inaccurate (definitions should be tested for these)

Parallel lines

Two lines that do NOT intersect

Perpendicular lines

Lines that meet at right angles

Right angle

An angle whose measure is 90�

Acute Angle

An angle whose measure is less than 90�

Obtuse angle

An angle whose measure is more than 90�

Pair of vertical angles

Two congruent angles formed by intersecting lines

Linear pair of angles

Two adjacent angles whose distinct sides lie on the same line

Pair of complementary angles

Two angles whose measures have a sum of 90�

Pair of supplementary angles

Two angles whose measures have a sum of 180�

Polygon

A closed planar geometric figure consisting of line segments each of which intersects exactly two other at endpoints forming the polygon's angles

Triangle

Three sides

Quadrilateral

Four sides

Pentagon

Five sides

Hexagon

Six sides

Heptagon

Seven sides

Octagon

Eight sides

Nonagon

Nine sides

Decagon

Ten sides

Undecagon

Eleven sides

Dodecagon

Twelve sides

n-gon

n-sides

Side (of polygon)

A line segment connecting two vertices

Vertex (of polygon)

A point of intersection of two or more line segments in a geometric figure

Consecutive angles (of a polygon)

Two angles that have a common vertex

Consecutive sides (of a polygon)

Two sides that have a common vertex

Diagonal

A line segment connecting two opposite vertices of a polygon or polyhedron

Convex polygon

A polygon having no diagonal lying outside the polygon

Concave polygon

A polygon having a diagonal lying outside the polygon

Congruent polygons

Two or more polygons that are identical in size and shape

Equilateral polygon

A polygon whose sides are congruent

Equiangular polygon

A polygon whose angles are congruent

Regular polygon

A polygon that is both equilateral and equiangular

Assume

To accept as true without facts or proof

Right triangle

A triangle with a right angle

Acute triangle

A triangle with three acute angles

Obtuse triangle

A triangle with an obtuse angle

Scalene triangle

A triangle with three sides of different lengths

Equilateral triangle

A triangle with three congruent sides

Isosceles triangle

A triangle with at least two congruent sides

Vertex angles (of an isosceles triangle)

The angles between the congruent sides

Base (of a polygon)

A side of a polygon or face of a solid used as reference when drawing an altitude or other feature

Base angles (of an isosceles triangle)

The two angles opposite the two congruent sides

Trapezoid

A quadrilateral with exactly two distinct pairs of congruent consecutive sides

Parallelogram

A quadrilateral with the opposite sides parallel

Rhombus

An equilateral parallelogram

Rectangle

An equiangular parallelogram

Square

An equiangular rhombus or an equilateral rectangle

Locus

The set of all points in a plane satisfying a given condition; the path of a moving point

Tree diagram

A concept map in the form of a tree

Venn diagram

A circle diagram used to show relationships among members of different sets

Net

A two-dimensional pattern that you can cut our and fold to form a three-dimensional figure.

Transformation

Creating an image of an original geometric figure by moving all the points of the figure according to certain rules (the image of point A is called 'A', each point in the original corresponds to a point in the image)

Rigid transformation

A transformation in which the image is congruent to the original figure (rigid transformation is also called isometry)

Non-rigid transformation

A transformation in that does not preserve the size and shape of the figure

Three types of rigid transformations are

Translation, rotation, reflection

Translations (A slide)

A transformation in which each point of the image is the same distance from its corresponding point in the original figure (translation has distance and direction represented by a translation vector)

Rotation (A turn)

A transformation in which all points in the original are rotated an identical number of degrees about a fixed center point

Rotational symmetry

A figure that can be rotated about a point in such a way that its rotated image coincides with the original before turning a full 360� (circle)

Reflection

A transformation that produces a figure's mirror image

Line of Relection

The line where the mirror would be placed if viewing a reflected image (the line an image was reflected over)

Reflectional symmetry

If a figure can be reflected over a line in such a way that the resulting image coincides with the original, then the figure has a reflectional symmetry

Glide relection

A two-step transformation combining a translation with a reflection

Ordered pair rules

Used to transform polygons on a coordinate plane by relocating their verices

Compositions (of transformation)

When you apply one transformation to a figure and the apply another transformation to its image

Inductive reasoning

Process of observing data, recognizing patterns, and making generalizations about those patterns

Conjecture

A generalization (made in inductive reasoning)

Deductive reasoning

Process of showing that certain statements follow logically from agreed upon assumptions or proven facts

Paragraph proof

A logical argument written as a paragraph (uses deductive reasoning)

Converse

A converse of an "if..., then..." statement reverses the parts after the "if" and "then" (Are converses always true? No)

Transversal

A line intersecting two or more other lines in a plane

Corresponding angles

The angles that occupy the same relative position at each intersection where a straight line crosses two others. If the two lines are parallel, the corresponding angles are equal.

Alternate interior angles

When two lines are crossed by another line (which is called the Transversal), the pairs of angles on opposite sides of the transversal but inside the two lines are called Alternate Interior Angles.

Alternate exterior angles

When two parallel lines are cut by a transversal, the two pairs of angles on opposite sides of the transversal and outside the parallel lines, and the angles in each pair are congruent.

Same side interior angles

Another name for consecutive interior angles.

Sketch

A geometric diagram (not accurate) made using a pencil (freehand, no tools)

Construct

An accurate geometric diagram made using only a compass and straight edge

Draw

An accurate geometric diagram made using only a ruler and protractor

Segment bisector

A line, ray or segment that passes through the midpoint of a line segment

Perpendicular bisector

A line that divides the line segment into two congruent parts (bisects it) and is also perpendicular to it

Coincide

Lying exactly on top of each other (lines that coincide are identical and have all the same points)

Equidistant

The same from two points

Median

A line segment connecting a vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side

Midsegment

A line segment connecting the midpoints of two sides of a triangle

Distance from a point to a line

The length of the perpendicular segment from the point to the line

Altitude

The perpendicular line segment connecting a vertex of a triangle to the opposite side of the triangle or the line containing the side

Angle bisector

A line, ray or line segment passing through the vertex of an angle that divided the angle into two congruent angles

Parallel lines

Lines in a given plane that never intersects

Slope

The rate of change between two variables

Y-intercept

The point where the graph crosses the y-axis

Auxiliary line

An additional line drawn in a diagram to help with a proof

Legs

The two congruent sides of an isosceles triangle

Isosceles triangle

A triangle with at least two congruent sides

Base angles

The angles between the base and each of the other two sides

Vertex angle

The angle between the two congruent sides

Exterior angle (of a triangle)

An angle created by extending one side of a triangle beyond it's vertext

Adjacent interior angle

An angle in a triangle which forms a linear pair with the exterior angle

Remote interior angles

Two angles of a triangle that do not share a vertex with the exterior angle

Included angle

The angle that is between two sides of a triangle

Included side

The side that is between two angles of a triangle

Flowchart

A concept map that shows all the steps of a complicated procedure in the proper order

Flowchart proof

A flowchart which comes to a conclusion as justified by logical reasons included in each step (box)

Biconditional statement

Included the phrase "if and only" only possible when the original statement and its converse are both true

N-gon

An "n" sided polygon

Exterior angle (of polygon)

An angle that forms a linear pair with one of the interior angles of a polygon

Kite

A quadrilateral with exactly two distinct pairs of congruent consecutive sides

Vertex angles (of kite)

The angles between the pairs of congruent sides

Non-vertex angles (of kite)

The angles between the pairs of non-congruent sides

Trapezoid

A quadrilateral with exactly one pair of parallel sides

Bases (of a trapezoid)

The parallel sides of a trapezoid

Base angles

A pair of angles that have a base as a common side (there are two sets of base angles in a trapezoid)

Isosceles trapezoid

A trapezoid whose two non-parallel sides are congruent

Midsegment (of a trapezoid)

The line segment connecting the midpoint of the two non-parallel sides

Vector

A directed line, usually represented by an arrow with a head and a tail, the direction of the vector is represented by the direction from tail to head. The vector length is the length of the line segment.

Resultant vector (or vector sum)

The result of combining two vectors

Rectangle

An equiangular parallelogram

Rhombus

An equilateral parallelogram

Square

An equiangular rhombus or an equilateral rectangle

Ratio

An expression that compares two quantities by division

Proportion

A statement of equality between two ratios

Similar figures

Figures that have the same shapes but not necessarily the same size

Similar polygons

Polygons with congruent corresponding angles and proportional corresponding sides

Scale factor

The ratio of corresponding lengths in similar figures

Dilation

A non-rigid transformation that enlarges or reduces a geometric figure by a scale factor relative to a point

Indirect measurement

Estimating a distance or a length by using properties of similarity or trigonometry