Rhombohedron

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A three-dimensional solid shape characterized by six parallelogram faces, twelve edges, and eight vertices that gives it a skewed box-like appearance
2. This geometric figure consists of six faces shaped as parallelograms, along with twelve edges and eight vertices, forming a uniquely distorted cube-like structure
3. A three-dimensional geometric solid with six faces, all parallelograms, that features twelve edges and eight vertices, resulting in a non-rectangular box shape

Etymology: "Rhombohedron" is a compound built from two Greek elements that were joined in scientific coinage rather than in ancient speech. The first part, "rhombo-", comes from Greek "rhombos," a word for a spinning top or a rhombus-shaped figure, and it is the source of the English "rhombus," a flat four-sided shape with equal sides but no right angles. The second part, "-hedron," comes from Greek "hedra," meaning a seat or base, and it is the root behind words like "polyhedron" and "dodecahedron," where it refers to a solid with a given number of flat faces. Put together, the name describes a solid whose faces are rhombuses. Its six faces are all rhombuses, and the whole shape is tilted, so it looks like a cube that has been pushed sideways. Because it is a technical coinage, the word belongs to the vocabulary of geometry and crystallography, where it names a shape that appears in certain mineral crystal structures.