Generatrixes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The line or curve whose movement through space traces out a geometric surface or solid, such as a cylinder or cone
2. Plural form of a line or curve that, when swept along a path, forms a surface or three-dimensional shape
3. Lines or curves whose sweeping motion creates geometric figures like cylinders, cones, and spheres

Etymology: "Generatrixes" is the plural of "generatrix," a term from geometry for a curve or line whose movement traces out a surface, so that a cylinder, cone or sphere can be described as the path of one moving line or curve. The plural is the form most readers will meet in mathematics textbooks, though "generatrices" is the Latin-style plural and is equally standard. The noun was borrowed directly from Latin "generatrix," meaning a female producer or mother, the feminine agent form of "generare," to beget or produce. English took the Latin word unchanged, and its mathematical sense grew from the idea of something that brings a figure into being by moving. Its close relative "generator" comes from the same Latin root, and the two words are formed in the same way, with the "-trix" ending marking the feminine agent.