oblong

Where does the word "oblong" come from? It comes from Latin oblongus, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Oblong’s story begins in Latin: oblongus meant “somewhat long.” 'rather long', from 'ob-' and 'longus', long. It reached English by 1400s as oblong. Used in geometry for a rectangle with unequal sides. Today, oblong means longer than it is wide; a rectangle that is not a square.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient oblongus "somewhat long", 'rather long', from 'ob-' and 'longus', long.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s oblong "longer than wide", used in geometry for a rectangle with unequal sides.