Squared

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /skwɛəd/

Definitions

1. A mathematical operation results in a number being multiplied by itself, while also describing a geometric figure with equal sides and a format that resembles a square arrangement
2. The act of taking a number to the second power can also refer to a four-sided shape with equal sides or to organizing objects in a square layout
3. A process in which a value is multiplied by itself is linked to a four-sided figure having all sides equal in length and may also describe the arrangement of items in a square formation

Etymology: The adjective "squared" is simply the past participle of the verb "square", so its story is really the story of the verb, and the surprise lies in what "square" meant before anyone multiplied anything. Its ancestor was Old French "esquarre" (later "équerre"), a carpenter's or mason's right-angled tool, and that tool's name came from Vulgar Latin "exquadra", built from the Latin prefix "ex-" and "quadro", meaning to make four-cornered. The English word first meant a four-sided shape with equal sides and right angles, and the arithmetical sense of multiplying a number by itself grew out of that geometric picture of a square area. English had its own word for a square-shaped thing before this loan arrived, the Old English "fēowerecge", literally "four-edged", but it was displaced by the French-derived form. The same Latin root also produced "squad" and "squadron", which entered English through Italian and French military usage and are doublets of "square" in this sense.

Synonyms: exponential, multiplied, raised, power, quadratic

Antonyms: linear, unmodified