symmetry means exact correspondence on either side of a dividing line, plane, center or axis. It carries an Arena rating of 1551, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, symmetry ranks #79 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #277 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #641 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,064 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
symmetry is pronounced /ˈsɪm.ɪ.tɹaɪ/.
Why “symmetry” is a great word
Exact correspondence in form, arrangement, or measurement on opposite sides of a dividing line, plane, or center. From Latin symmetria, from Ancient Greek συμμετρία (summetría, "commensurateness, due proportion"), from σύν (sún, "with") + μέτρον (métron, "measure"). Unlike "balance"—which suggests a stable equipoise of differing elements—or "asymmetry"—which achieves its effects through deliberate violation—symmetry is the radical assertion of identicality. It is the mirrored perfection of a butterfly’s wings, the radial architecture of a snowflake, the unwavering bilateral echo of a human face. It speaks not of equality but of sameness, offering the profound, quiet comfort of a world momentarily held in perfect, silent reflection, where every side knows what the other is thinking.
Etymology
From Latin symmetria, from Ancient Greek συμμετρία (summetría), from σύμμετρος (súmmetros, “symmetrical”), from σύν (sún, “with”) + μέτρον (métron, “measure”). By surface analysis, sym- + -metry.
noun
- Exact correspondence on either side of a dividing line, plane, center or axis.
- The satisfying arrangement of a balanced distribution of the elements of a whole.e.g.“She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.” — 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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