perimeter
noun
Simple meaning
The sum of the distance of all the lengths of the sides of an object.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
perimuhterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɚˈɪmətɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
mathematics
The sum of the distance of all the lengths of the sides of an object.
mathematics
The length of such a boundary.
The outer limits of an area.
An instrument for determining the extent and shape of the field of vision.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The sum of the distance of all the lengths of the sides of an object.
Used this way, perimeter is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a mathematical use: it is defined precisely and belongs to working with figures and calculations rather than to ordinary conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Mathematics
- Geometry
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use perimeter
- “We walked along the perimeter of the park, enjoying the fresh air.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.