vertex

See also: vèrtex

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

vertex

Wikipedia

Etymology

Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin vertex (“whirl, eddy; top, crown, peak, summit”). Doublet of vortex.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜː.tɛks/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvɝˌtɛks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tɛks

Noun

vertex (plural vertices or vertexes)

1. The highest point, top or apex of something.

   Synonyms: acme, apex, peak, top

   Antonym: fundus

   1. (anatomy) The highest surface on the skull; the crown of the head.
2. (geometry) An angular point of a polygon, polyhedron or higher order polytope.
   1. The common point of the two rays that form an angle.
   2. The point at which an axis meets a curve or surface.
3. (mathematics) A point on the curve with a local minimum or maximum of curvature.
5. (graph theory) One of the elements of a graph joined or not by edges to other vertices.

   Synonym: node

   Coordinate term: plot

6. (computer graphics) A point in 3D space, usually given in terms of its Cartesian coordinates.
7. (optics) The point where the surface of a lens crosses the optical axis.
8. (particle physics) An interaction point.
9. (astrology) The point where the prime vertical meets the ecliptic in the western hemisphere of a natal chart.
10. (typography) A sharp downward point opposite a crotch, as in the letters "V" and "W" but not "Y".

    Coordinate term: apex

Derived terms

• antivertex
• covertex
• frontovertex
• hypervertex
• intervertex
• intravertex
• nonvertex
• supervertex
• vertexal, vertexial
• vertex angle
• vertex cover
• vertex figure
• vertex form
• vertexless
• vertex separation number
• vertexwise

Related terms

• vertical

Translations

highest point

Aragonese: vértiz m Bulgarian: връх (bg) m (vrǎh) Catalan: vèrtex (ca) m Czech: vrchol (cs) m Danish: toppunkt n Dutch: toppunt (nl) Finnish: huippu (fi) French: sommet (fr) m Georgian: ზენიტი (zeniṭi) German: Spitze (de) f, Gipfel (de) m, Scheitelpunkt (de) m, Gipfelpunkt (de) m Hebrew: פסגה (he) f (pisga) Hungarian: csúcs (hu), csúcspont (hu), tetőpont (hu) Ingrian: kukkula Italian: vertice (it) m Japanese: 頂 (ja) (いただき, itadaki), 頂点 (ja) (ちょうてん, chōten) Korean: 정점(頂點) (ko) (jeongjeom) Lithuanian: viršūnė f Macedonian: врв (mk) m (vrv) Maori: akitu Norwegian: Bokmål: toppunkt n Plautdietsch: Spetz f Polish: wierzchołek (pl) m Portuguese: cume (pt) m, vértice (pt) m, topo (pt) m Russian: верши́на (ru) f (veršína), верху́шка (ru) f (verxúška) Serbo-Croatian: vrh (sh) m Slovak: vrchol m Spanish: cumbre (es) f, vértice (es) m

highest surface on skull

Arabic: يَافُوخ m (yāfūḵ) Belarusian: це́мя n (cjémja) Bulgarian: те́ме (bg) n (téme) Catalan: vèrtex (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 頭頂 / 头顶 (zh) (tóudǐng) Czech: temeno (cs) n Finnish: päälaki (fi) French: sommet (fr) m (de la tête) German: Scheitel (de) m Greek: βρέγμα (el) n (vrégma) Hebrew: קודקוד (he) m (kodkód) Hungarian: fejtető (hu) Ido: vertico (io) Italian: vertice (it) f Japanese: 頭頂 (ja) (とうちょう, tōchō) Korean: 정수리 (ko) (jeongsuri) Lithuanian: viršugalvis f Macedonian: теме n (teme) Norwegian: Bokmål: isse m Persian: تارک (fa) (târak), فرق سر (farq-e sar) Polish: ciemię (pl) n Portuguese: vértice (pt) m Russian: те́мя (ru) n (témja), маку́шка (ru) f (makúška) (colloquial), ма́ковка (ru) f (mákovka) (colloquial) Scottish Gaelic: bàrr a' chinn m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: теме n Roman: teme (sh) n Slovak: temeno Slovene: teme n Spanish: vértice (es) m Ukrainian: ті́м'я n (tímʺja), ма́ківка f (mákivka)

corner of a polygon or polyhedron

Arabic: رَأْس (ar) m (raʔs) Armenian: գագաթ (hy) (gagatʻ) Bulgarian: връх (bg) m (vrǎh) Catalan: vèrtex (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 頂點 / 顶点 (zh) (dǐngdiǎn), 節點 / 节点 (zh) (jiédiǎn) Czech: vrchol (cs) m Dutch: hoek (nl) Esperanto: vertico Finnish: kärki (fi) French: sommet (fr) m Georgian: მწვერვალი (mc̣vervali) German: Scheitelpunkt (de) m, Eckpunkt (de) m, Ecke (de) f Greek: κορυφή (el) f (koryfí) Ancient Greek: κορυφή f (koruphḗ) Hebrew: קודקוד (he) m (kodkód) Hindi: शीर्ष (hi) m (śīrṣ) Hungarian: csúcs (hu) Ingrian: kukkula Irish: stuaic f Italian: vertice (it) m Japanese: 頂点 (ja) (ちょうてん, chōten), 節点 (ja) (せってん, setten) Korean: 정점(頂點) (ko) (jeongjeom), 꼭짓점 (ko) (kkokjitjeom) Lithuanian: viršūnė f Macedonian: теме n (teme) Maori: akitu Norwegian: hjørne (no) Persian: رأس Polish: wierzchołek (pl) m Portuguese: vértice (pt) m Romanian: vârf (ro) n Russian: верши́на (ru) f (veršína) Sanskrit: विषुवत् (sa) m (viṣuvat) Serbo-Croatian: vrh (sh) m Spanish: vértice (es) m Tagalog: tuktok, bagtasan Tamil: உச்சி (ta) (ucci) Turkish: köşenokta Urdu: شیرش m (śīrṣ)

element of a graph

Armenian: գագաթ (hy) (gagatʻ) Chinese: Mandarin: 頂點 / 顶点 (zh) (dǐngdiǎn) Czech: vrchol (cs) m Dutch: knoop (nl) Esperanto: vertico Finnish: solmu (fi) French: sommet (fr) German: Knoten (de) m, Ecke (de) f Hebrew: קודקוד (he) m (kodkód), צומת (he) m (tzómet) Hungarian: csúcs (hu), pont (hu) Italian: nodo (it) m Japanese: 頂点 (ja) (ちょうてん, chōten) Korean: 정점(頂點) (ko) (jeongjeom), 꼭짓점 (ko) (kkokjitjeom) Macedonian: теме n (teme) Polish: wierzchołek (pl) m Portuguese: vértice (pt) m Russian: верши́на (ru) f (veršína) Serbo-Croatian: vrh (sh) m Slovak: vrchol m Spanish: vértice (es) m, nodo (es) m

point in 3D space

Finnish: verteksi (fi) Georgian: მწვერვალი (mc̣vervali) German: Scheitelpunkt (de) m Italian: vertice (it) m Japanese: 頂点 (ja) (ちょうてん, chōten) Korean: 정점(頂點) (ko) (jeongjeom), 꼭짓점 (ko) (kkokjitjeom) Macedonian: теме n (teme) Portuguese: vértice (pt) m Russian: верши́на (ru) f (veršína) Serbo-Croatian: vrh (sh) m, verteks (sh) m Spanish: vértice (es) m

point where the surface of an optical element crosses the optical axis

Finnish: keskipiste (fi) Italian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: vértice (es) m

physics: interaction point

Finnish: vuorovaikutuspiste Italian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "point of intersection of an axis and a curve"

Finnish: leikkauspiste (fi)

See also

• Mathworld article on vertices of polyhedra
• Mathworld article on vertices of polygons

References

• “vertex”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “vertex”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

French

French Wikipedia has an article on:

vertex

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vertex.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛʁ.tɛks/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

vertex m (plural vertex)

1. (anatomy) vertex

Further reading

• “vertex” in Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872–1877.
• “vertex”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Alternative forms

• vortex (archaic)

Etymology

From vertō (“to turn around, turn about”).

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwɛr.tɛks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈvɛr.t̪eks]

Noun

vertex m (genitive verticis); third declension

1. whirl, whirlpool, eddy, vortex
2. eddy of wind or flame, whirlwind, coil of flame
3. (literally, anatomy) top, crown of the head
4. (poetic) head

   vacuus vertex ― an empty head

5. pole of the heavens (north or south)
6. highest point, top, peak, summit (of a mountain, house, tree, etc.)

   Synonyms: cacūmen, apex, culmen, fastīgium, summitās

   Antonym: fundus

   a vertice ― from above/at the top

   in verticem ― upright/vertically

7. (figurative, poetic) highest, uttermost, greatest

Inflection

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	vertex	verticēs
genitive	verticis	verticum
dative	verticī	verticibus
accusative	verticem	verticēs
ablative	vertice	verticibus
vocative	vertex	verticēs

Derived terms

• bivertex
• quinquevertex
• verticillus
• verticōsus
• verticula

Descendants

• Lombard: vierdza, verdza, értes, vértisa (“parting of the hair”)
• Piedmontese: verdz̆a (“peak”)
• Romansch: viertsch, vertscha

Early borrowings:

• → Old French: vertiz (“top of the head”)
• → Old Occitan: vertitz, vertis

Later borrowings:

• → English: vertex
• → French: vertex
• → Italian: vertice
• → Portuguese: vértice
• → Sicilian: vèrtici
• → Spanish: vértice

References

• “vertex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vertex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "vertex", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “vertex”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the pole: vertex caeli, axis caeli, cardo caeli
    
• Dizionario Latino, Olivetti
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “vĕrtex”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 14: U–Z, page 320
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “vĕrtex”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 706

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vertex, from Latin vertex.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈver.teks/

Noun

vertex n (uncountable)

1. vertex

Declension

Declension of vertex

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	vertex	vertexul
genitive-dative	vertex	vertexului
vocative	vertexule

Further reading

• “vertex”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025