Trapezes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An apparatus consisting of a horizontal bar supported by two vertical ropes, used by acrobats during performances
2. A type of equipment commonly seen in circuses for aerial routines involving flipping and swinging motions
3. A structure often used in gymnastics that allows for dynamic aerial maneuvers and stunts, contributing to graceful acts

Etymology: "Trapezes" is simply the plural of "trapeze," the swinging bar suspended from ropes used in circus and gymnastic acts. The singular comes from French "trapèze," which was taken from Latin "trapezium," a term that had earlier been borrowed from Greek "trapezion," meaning a small table, from "trapeza," a table or dining table, combined from elements meaning "four" and "foot." The same Greek-to-Latin path produced "trapezium," which English kept in geometry to name a four-sided shape with no parallel sides. Because "trapeze" and "trapezium" descend from one source and entered English separately, they are doublets: two forms of the same word that took different routes into the language.

Synonyms: swing, pendulum