Sexagonal

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having six sides and six angles, like the cells of a honeycomb or a regular polygon with six edges
2. Shaped like a figure with six straight edges, such as a hexagon or a six-sided nut head
3. Describing any outline or form that is bounded by six straight sides meeting at six corners

Etymology: "Sexagonal" is simply the adjective form of "sexagon," a shape with six sides, built by adding the adjective ending "-al" to that noun. The noun "sexagon" is itself formed from Latin "sex," meaning six, and the Greek-derived "-gon," meaning angle or corner, the same pieces found in "pentagon" and "hexagon." The more interesting twist lies in the pairing. "Sexagonal" and "hexagonal" are piecewise doublets: they share the same meaning and the same underlying number, but one is built from Latin and the other from Greek. Latin "sex" and Greek "hex" both mean six, so English ended up with two parallel words for one shape. "Hexagonal" is the far more common of the two, and "sexagonal" survives mostly as a learned variant.

Synonyms: hexagonal