perpendicularadj.n.
/ˌpəːp(ə)nˈdɪkjᵿlə/, U.S. /ˌpərpənˈdɪkjələr/ A. adj.† 3. figurative.
1.
a. Situated or directed at right angles to the plane of the horizon; vertical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > vertical position > [adjective]
plumb rightc1445
perpendiculara1450
plumba1500
downright1530
straight-upc1590
vertic1607
up and downc1710
vertical1725
a1450 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe ii. §23. 45 Thou must have a plomet hangyng on a lyne, heygher than thin heved, on a perche; and thilke lyne must hange evene perpendiculer bytwixe the pool and thin eye.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. vi. f. 121v It receaueth the soonne beames at noonetyde directly perpenticular [L. perpendiculares] ouer their heades.
1597 C. Middleton Famous Hist. Chinon x. sig. L The sunne at the Zenith of this Sphere, dartes downe his perpendicular beames with such force..as makes euery creature seeke to shelter himselfe.
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 193 In the Sunnes perpendicular glances, wee found it hot.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Crane The modern Crane consists of several Members..the principal whereof is a strong perpendicular Beam, or Arbor.
1799 R. Kirwan Geol. Ess. v. 156 A mountain..whose perpendicular height is not less than 1/ 5 of the declivity.
1822 T. Webster Imison's Elem. Sci. & Art (new ed.) I. 74 Measure the perpendicular height of the fall of water, in feet.
1892 W. W. Greener Breech-loader 211 The prettiest of shots and a difficult one to make is the perpendicular shot.
1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Bk. Pract. Cats 11 How can he keep up his tail perpendicular, Or spread out his whiskers?
1995 Which? July 20/1 Their £105,000 home had serious defects. Some brickwork was not perpendicular.
b. Nearly vertical; very steep, precipitous.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adjective] > inclined from level or sloping > steep (except of hills, etc.)
staira1175
slidingc1325
steepa1400–50
side?a1475
right-up1511
steep-down1530
steepwise1542
headlonga1557
steep-up?a1560
pitch hill1560
pendent1587
high-pitched1596
steeped1596
perpendicular1598
steepy1735
declivitous1799
steepish1814
escarped1853
steep-cut1888
swooping1956
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 347 That sprightly Scot of Scottes, Dowglas, that runnes a horsebacke vp a hill perpendicular . View more context for this quotation
1704 T. Baker Act at Oxf. ii. ii. 17 First comes my old Lady Lanternjaws, with her lean wither'd perpendicular Face.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IV. xxv Had I found the declivity easy, or the ascent accessible—certes I had been outwitted—..but it was so perpendicular a precipice [etc.].
1822 Ld. Byron Heaven & Earth i. iii, in Liberal 1 175 Trees that twine their roots with stone In perpendicular places.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby iii. 15 A female voice, proceeding from a perpendicular staircase at the end of the passage.
1880 Fraser's Mag. May 650 Slippery steps..connect the various stories of this perpendicular hamlet.
1927 Daily Express 4 Oct. 3 Men..running up and down perpendicular 4-inch steel stairs in issue boots without arriving in hospital.
1991 Independent 5 Jan. (Mag.) 42/1 Ventnor is phenomenally hilly. Sepia guesthouses seem to cling by blind faith to the perpendicular green of St Boniface Down.
c. Of a person: having an upright figure, bearing, or posture; erect, upright. Also: performed in a standing position; standing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > upright or erect posture > [adjective] > when standing or riding
perpendicular1768
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 117 He canter'd away before me as happy and as perpendicular as a prince.
1826 M. R. Mitford Our Village II. 264 Mrs. Evelyn's attendant was a stiff perpendicular old maid.
1851 T. Carlyle Life J. Sterling ii. i. 134 A stout broad gentleman of sixty, perpendicular in attitude.
1859 Sunday Times 16 Oct. 5/3 Every seat..was occupied and perpendicular accommodation threatened to be at a premium.
1934 Sun (Baltimore) 11 Jan. 10/1 The ban on perpendicular drinking.
1988 S. E. McKay New Child Safety Handbk. ii. 32/2 A walker allows a child to see the world from a perpendicular position.
2. Chiefly Science and Engineering. Of a line or plane: situated at right angles to a given line, plane, or surface. Usually with to, †with.A line is said to be perpendicular (now more usually normal) to a curve when it is at right angles to the tangent at the point of intersection.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > position at right angles to something > [adjective]
perpendicularc1475
square?a1560
direct1563
rectangular1646
upright1678
orthogonal1694
normal1704
right-angled1802
cathetal1874
c1475 Court of Sapience (Trin. Cambr.) (1927) 1992 (MED) Dame Geometry..Full craftyly..taught of euery spere..Whyche lyne ys ryght, whyche perpendyculere [v.r. perpentyculere].
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 2v The right lyne which standeth erected, is called a perpendiculer line to that vpon which it standeth.
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. 28 That the Walls bee most exactly perpendicular to the Ground-Worke; for the right Angle..is the true cause of all Stability.
?1677 S. Primatt City & Covntry Purchaser & Builder 159 How to draw a Perpendicular Line from any Point, to any Line given.
1715 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture I. xi. 17 The middle of the upmost wall ought to be perpendicular with the middle of the nethermost.
1768 Philos. Trans. 1767 (Royal Soc.) 57 33 Let CE be drawn parallel to the tangent TG..;and CG perpendicular to the line BCD, meeting the tangent in the point G.
1850 W. H. C. Bartlett Elem. Nat. Philos. i. x. 181 The quantity of work..is always..reduced to that of their components in planes perpendicular to the axis.
1882 G. M. Minchin Uniplanar Kinematics 37 Moving in a plane perpendicular to the axis.
1935 C. J. Smith Intermediate Physics (ed. 2) v. xliv. 730 The lines of force are perpendicular to the plane of the wheel.
1994 New Scientist 30 July 85/1 A horizontal line perpendicular to the light source.
a. Directly dependent. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > effect, result, or consequence > [adjective] > dependent or contingent
relativea1500
perpendicular1555
dependent1593
dependential1646
contingent1785
depending1816
conditioned1851
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. x. f. 50v I wyll nowe therfore soo make an ende of this perpendiculer conclusion of the hole Decade.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ii. 58 A perpendicular Prouince annexed to it.
1693 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. III. 342 To have our Wills intirely Conformable, and as it were Perpendicular to his.
b. Directly leading to, antecedent to; (of a cause) direct. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [adjective] > causing > leading to or inducing
inductive1607
perpendicular1632
1579 J. Stubbs Discouerie Gaping Gulf sig. Fivv Thys french mariage is..the very rightest perpendicular downfal that can be imagined from the point france to our English state.]
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iv. 166 To these of the first reason, there is another perpendicular cause.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. xi. 44 Distorting the order and theorie of causes perpendicular to their effects. View more context for this quotation
1651 N. Biggs Matæotechnia Medicinæ Praxeωs 149 The prime indication perpendicular to health, and conducible to perfect restauration.
4. Architecture. Usually with capital initial. Designating the style representing the third and final stage of English Gothic church architecture, prevalent from the late 14th cent. to the mid 16th cent. Also, of a building or feature: in this style.Typical of the Perpendicular style is an enhanced sense of elevation achieved through pronounced vertical and horizontal lines and features such as broad arches, large windows with vertical tracery, and elaborate fan vaulting. Cf. rectilinear adj. 4b.The name was introduced by Rickman (quot. 1817).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > style of architecture > [adjective] > perpendicular
perpendicular1817
rectilinear1826
1817 T. Rickman Attempt to discriminate Styles Eng. Archit. 44 Perpendicular English... The name clearly designates this style, for the mullions of the windows, and the ornamental pannellings run in perpendicular lines.
1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. II. xvii. 625 The unmeaning symmetry of the Perpendicular Style.
1904 J. T. Fowler Durham Univ. 10 Three good Perpendicular windows.
1955 W. G. Hoskins Making of Eng. Landscape vi. 160 The village of Stockerston, now shrunk almost to a hamlet, with its attractive Perpendicular church.
2003 Boston Globe (Nexis) 15 June (Travel section) m1 Country buildings, including half-timbered houses, dovecotes, and churches in the graceful Perpendicular Gothic style.
B. n.† 2. An instrument for indicating the vertical line from any point, such as a plumb line. Obsolete.
1. Chiefly Science and Engineering. A straight line at right angles to a given line, plane, or surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > position at right angles to something > [noun] > a line at right angles
perpendicular1551
cathetus1571
1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. xxviii From those ij. prickes erect two perpendiculars, which muste needes meet in crosse.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. djv Perpendiculars drawen to the Sphæricall Superficies of the earth.
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. D8 Here at Damascus will I make the Point That shall begin the Perpendicular.
1614 R. Handson tr. B. Pitiscus Trigonom. i. 4 §31 The sides including the right angle, are called the perpendicular, and the Base (at pleasure).
1780 Philos. Trans. 1779 (Royal Soc.) 69 632 The declivity of the bed below the spring is had by taking the same perpendicular from the bottom of the bed.
1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 286 A Perpendicular is the Shortest Line that can be drawn from a Given Point to an Indefinite Line.
1876 Q. A. Gillmore Pract. Treat. Roads i. 24 Let h be the perpendicular and b the base of a right angle triangle.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xx. 541 Much of the bird's body is usually in front of a perpendicular dropped from the socket or acetabulum.
1990 Sail Mar. 23/2 Draw an imaginary line from the luff to the leech, and then draw a perpendicular to leeward off that line.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > plumb-line or chalk-line
poundereOE
righteOE
line1340
plummeta1398
plumba1400
perpendicle?c1400
plumb rulec1400
levelc1440
pendant1440
plumb linea1456
levelling-rule1598
perpendicular1604
plummet levelc1850
point-brass1850
1604 B. Jonson His Pt. Royall Entertainem. 459 In her lappe shee held a Perpendicular or leuell, as the ensigne of Euennesse and Rest.
1664 S. Butler Hudibras: Second Pt. ii. iii. 204 I'l make them serve for perpendiculars, As true, as e're were used by Brick-layers.
1792 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) 3 184 An instrument..called a Perpendicular, to be used instead of a quadrant of altitude with the artificial globes.
1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia Perpendicular, in gunnery, is a small instrument, used for finding the centre line of a piece in the operation of pointing it to a given object.
1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 121 One quadrant, one perpendicular, for every four or five mortars.
3. † d. Chiefly University slang. A party or gathering at which the participants remain standing; a meal eaten standing. Obsolete.
a. Esp. with the: a line at right angles to the plane of the horizon; a vertical line, plane, or surface; the state or condition of being at right angles to the plane of the horizon; verticality. Also: a very steep or precipitous face or slope.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > vertical position > [noun] > vertical line or plane
upright1563
perpendicular1604
downright1674
erect1676
the vertical1834
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > cliff > [noun]
cliffOE
cleoa1300
cleevec1300
rochec1300
clougha1400
heugha1400
brackc1530
clift1567
perpendicular1604
precipice1607
precipe1615
precipit1623
abrupt1624
scar1673
bluff1687
rock wall1755
krantz1785
linn1799
scarp1802
scaur1805
escarpment1815
rock face1820
escarp1856
hag1868
glint1906
scarping1909
stone-cliff1912
ledra1942
1604 T. Dekker Magnificent Entertainm. sig. Gv The whole frame of this somer banqueting house, stood (at the ground line) vpon 4 foote; the Perpendicular stretching itselfe to 45.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. x. 432 The Perpendiculars of long-reaching Caucasus.
1656 P. Heylyn Surv. Estate France 4 Rising from the bottom to the top in a perpendicular.
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. III. 170 The tower of this church is observed to lean a little from the perpendicular.
1777 J. Cook Jrnl. 13 July (1967) III. ii. 182 The tide rises and falls upon a perpendicular about six feet.
1817 Ld. Byron Manfred ii. ii. 4 O'er the crag's headlong perpendicular.
1906 J. London Wit of Porportuk in Times Mag. Dec. Her body, too, leaned out upon the air far from the perpendicular.
1995 Independent 20 Nov. ii. 10/4 The cruel perpendiculars and huge, empty, unshaded spaces..that present-day architects are hurrying to put behind them.
b. Upright position or posture; (figurative) moral uprightness, rectitude. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > vertical position > [noun]
perpendicularity1589
upright1683
perpendicular1787
the vertical1834
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > [noun]
righteousnesseOE
rightnessOE
justice1340
rightfulnessa1350
right wiseness1447
justnessc1450
droiture1483
rectitude1509
uprightness1541
erectness1646
principle1653
right-mindedness1767
perpendicular1823
1787 T. Jefferson Memorandum 6 Apr. in Papers (1955) XI. 429 The mountains then, reclining a little from their perpendicular.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XII lix. 34 Several also keep their perpendicular Like poplars, with good principles for roots.
1834 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz (1836) 1st Ser. II. 314 Several ineffectual attempts to preserve his perpendicular.
1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket ii. ii. 112 Your lordship affects the unwavering perpendicular.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 547 I'm not afraid of what I can talk to if I see his eye. Retaining the perpendicular.
1937 Dict. National Biogr. 1922–30 at Curzon, George Nathaniel The steel corset which encased his frame..gave to his figure an aspect of unbending perpendicular.
c. Nautical. Either of two vertical lines passing through defined points at the bow and stern of a ship, respectively, and the line of the keel. Chiefly in length between perpendiculars.
ΚΠ
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 394/1 The length of the Ruby is 155 feet between the perpendiculars.
1869 R. W. Meade Treat. Naval Archit. & Ship-building (ed. 2) xxi. 150 He [sc. the designer] will be materially aided by the choice which he makes of that cross section which passes through the after perpendicular.
1894 Manufacturer & Builder Oct. 233/2 The length of the St. Louis is 554 feet 2 inches over all; length between perpendiculars, 535 feet 8 inches.
1992 Ships Monthly Apr. 22/1 Prins Filip has an overall length of 163.4m; length between perpendiculars 150.0m.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > buffet or standing meal
perpendicular1863
stand-up1882
buffet meal1888
fork supper1940
society > leisure > social event > type of social event > [noun] > at which one remains standing
perpendicular1863
stand-up1882
1863 G. M. Hopkins Further Lett. (1956) 76 I shall have to go to a ‘perpendicular’, i.e. a ‘wall-flower’ evening at the Master's this term.
1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshman xxi This was the first occasion on which he had been honoured with an invitation to a Perpendicular, as such entertainments are styled.
1882 ‘E. Lyall’ Donovan I. ix. 207 I dutifully attended my mother to three fashionable crowds—‘perpendiculars’ is the best name for them, for there is generally barely room for standing.
1890 G. J. Romanes in Life 266 Yesterday we had here [at Edinburgh] what at Cambridge used to be called a ‘perpendicular’—twenty students to supper.
4. Architecture. Usually with capital initial. The Perpendicular style of English Gothic architecture (cf. sense A. 4).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > style of architecture > [noun] > Gothic > specific
perpendicular1817
continuous style1849
Perp.1937
1817 T. Rickman Attempt to discriminate Styles Eng. Archit. 128 The chancel gate, called Christ-Church gate, is a good specimen of late Perpendicular.
1854 H. B. Stowe Sunny Memories Foreign Lands II. xxiii. 60 If you will please to recollect that the guide book says, ‘this palace contains all the gradations of architecture from early English to late perpendicular’.
1890 Dict. National Biogr. XXII. 273/2 Gough afterwards rebuilt St. Matthew's Church, Islington (transition from Decorated to Perpendicular), 1850–1.
1933 Archit. Rev. 74 130/2 The Kirkgate and the Briggate..cast off their Georgian glory and assumed the Jacobean,..the Perpendicular and the neo-Georgian.
1974 D. Yarwood Archit. Europe v. 214/2 There were four distinct phases in this evolution [of Gothic architecture]. The first three, Transitional, Lancet and Decorated, ran parallel to French development but the last, Perpendicular, was uniquely English and lasted from about 1375 till 1560.
Compounds
C1.
perpendicular-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour iv. xx. 103 You perpendicular-looking Puseyite pig-jobber!
1859 E. L. Follet Mrs. Peck's Pudding ii. i. 20 A stiff, perpendicular looking man enters. He has on a black coat, a white cravat, and green spectacles, and carries a blue cotton umbrella in one hand, and a red book in the other.
C2. † perpendicular-sided adj. Geometry Obsolete (of a triangle) right-angled.
perpendicular pronoun n. [with allusion to the appearance of the capital letter ‘I’ on the printed page] slang (originally U.S.) the personal pronoun ‘I’, typically with implication of egotism on the part of a person speaking or writing in the first person.
ΚΠ
1886 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Sept. 292 As I reread these pages of rambling recollections, wherein the perpendicular pronoun erects itself with most unconscionable frequency..I confess to a great doubt: a dramatist ought to be able at least to conceal his own egotism.
1942 V. Starrett Bookman's Holiday 175 There is no reticence in Reid's pages. The perpendicular pronoun is always in bristling evidence.
2002 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 26 Nov. 1 The master of the perpendicular pronoun, who will generously add to any anecdote some rather more interesting observations of his own.
ΚΠ
c1865 Ld. Brougham in J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. Introd. Disc. p. vi The third side of a perpendicular-sided triangle.
1895 Amer. Math. Monthly 2 385 Triangles, average area of all that can be drawn perpendicular-sided.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
perpendicularadv.
/ˌpəːp(ə)nˈdɪkjᵿlə/, U.S. /ˌpərpənˈdɪkjələr/ = perpendicularly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > vertical position > [adverb]
downrightsa1170
downrightc1225
adownrightsc1275
righta1325
plumbc1425
perpendiculara1527
perpendicularly1555
endlong1600
plumb-wise1613
vertically1646
up and down1669
plumbly1931
a1527 R. Thorne in R. Hakluyt Divers Voy. (1582) sig. C v The one in the Occidentall parte descendeth perpendicular vppon the 175. degree.
1691 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense (ed. 8) 63 If the Tree be too ponderous to be lifted perpendicular by the Hand alone.
1792 Munchausen's Trav. Suppl. 80 To fall near two miles perpendicular.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack vi. 30 Sometimes they will go down right perpendicular, and take four lines, or eight hundred fathoms with them.
1990 G. Bear Queen of Angels (1991) i. vi. 28 She lifted the letter, three gloved fingers on each hand vising perpendicular the opposite edges of the stiff thick sheet.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.a1450
adv.a1527