Etymo

polygon

A closed plane figure with straight sides.

Played on · Day 12 · word 3 of 5

Many angles.

How polygon reached English

oldest first

Simplified path. The puzzle showed the main steps; the full route is being checked.

Greek

  • poly-‘many’
  • gōnia‘angle’

combined

  1. English

    polygon

    ‘A closed plane figure with straight sides.’

The story of polygon

Polygon comes through a Latinized Greek formation. Its components refer to many angles. Although we often count a polygon’s sides, the name’s second piece is the Greek angle element.

This view explains the components. They are pieces of one construction, not consecutive borrowing stages.

Sources

Related

Pentagon replaces many with a particular number while retaining the angle component.

More words from 17 September 2026

  1. anarchyAn absence of governing authority; also a political ideal.
  2. chamberA room or enclosed space.

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