Parallelopiped

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A three-dimensional geometric shape with six parallelogram faces, where opposite faces are parallel and identical in shape, allowing for various angles and dimensions
2. An object in three-dimensional space characterized by having six flat surfaces, each parallelogram-shaped, forming a distinct volume with parallel edges
3. A solid figure that consists of two parallel congruent faces connected by parallelogram-shaped lateral faces, resulting in a uniform shape with specific linear measurements

Etymology: The word is a misspelling of "parallelepiped," so the history belongs to that standard form. Its ancient Greek original, "parallēlepipedon," was built from two ordinary words: "parallēlos," meaning "parallel," and "epipedos," meaning "plane" or "flat surface." The result described a solid whose opposite faces lie in parallel planes, which is exactly what the name still says. The Greek word passed into Latin as "parallēlepipedum," and English later took it over in the same sense. Note the stray vowel that many people add or drop: the form with an extra "o" in the fourth syllable is simply a spelling error, since the word has no "o" there in its Greek or Latin ancestors.