Word.ws English Dictionary

Platonic solid

Platonic solid noun: any of five convex polyhedra with congruent regular polygonal faces, which have a high degree of symmetry and have been studied since antiquity.

platonic solid: any of five convex polyhedra with congruent regular polygonal faces, which have a high degree of...
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Noun

Platonic solid (plural Platonic solids)

  1. Any of five convex polyhedra with congruent regular polygonal faces, which have a high degree of symmetry and have been studied since antiquity.
    • As the names suggest, the groups and their existence are connected to the five Platonic solids. They are in fact the rotation groups of the Platonic solids.1961, J. S. Griffith, The Theory of Transition-Metal Ions, page 41
    • The boat which the gods tell Utnapishtim to build is no ordinary boat but a perfect cube with seven levels; the ark resembles more a Platonic solid from the Timaeus than a seaworthy craft.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 202

Forms of Platonic solid

pluralPlatonic solids
alternative formplatonic solid

Origin of Platonic solid

From Platonic + solid, in reference to the Greek philosopher Plato, who in his dialogue Timaeus theorised about a correspondence between these solids and the classical physical elements.

Questions about Platonic solid

What does Platonic solid mean?
Platonic solid means any of five convex polyhedra with congruent regular polygonal faces, which have a high degree of symmetry and have been studied since antiquity.
What part of speech is Platonic solid?
Platonic solid is a noun.
What is the plural of Platonic solid?
The plural of Platonic solid is Platonic solids.

Words near Platonic solid in the dictionary

  1. Platonic ideals
  2. platonic love
  3. platonic loves
  4. Platonic month
  5. Platonic months
  6. Platonic solid
  7. Platonic solids
  8. Platonic year
  9. Platonic years
  10. platonical
  11. platonically

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Platonic solid (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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