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Where does the word "perimeter" come from? It comes from Greek peri, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).
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Where does the word "perimeter" come from? It comes from Greek peri, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).
Perimeter’s story begins in Greek: peri meant “around.” Around, combined with metron (measure). It reached English by 1400s as perimeter. Settled as the geometric word for the boundary measurement of a shape. Today, perimeter means the continuous line forming the boundary of a shape, or its total length.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient peri "around", around, combined with metron (measure).
- Stage 2 · English · 1400s perimeter "the total distance around the edge of a shape", settled as the geometric word for the boundary measurement of a shape.