Vertex

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Vertex \Ver"tex\, n.; pl. E. {Vertexes}, L. {Vertices}. [L.
     vertex, -icis, a whirl, top of the head, top, summit, from
     vertere to turn. See {Verse}, and cf. {Vortex}.]
     A turning point; the principal or highest point; top; summit;
     crown; apex. Specifically: 
     [1913 Webster]


     (a) (Anat.) The top, or crown, of the head.
         [1913 Webster]
     (b) (Astron.) The zenith, or the point of the heavens
         directly overhead.
         [1913 Webster]
     (c) (Math.) The point in any figure opposite to, and farthest
         from, the base; the terminating point of some particular
         line or lines in a figure or a curve; the top, or the
         point opposite the base.
         [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The principal vertex of a conic section is, in the
           parabola, the vertex of the axis of the curve: in the
           ellipse, either extremity of either axis, but usually
           the left-hand vertex of the transverse axis; in the
           hyperbola, either vertex, but usually the right-hand
           vertex of the transverse axis.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Vertex of a curve} (Math.), the point in which the axis of
        the curve intersects it.
  
     {Vertex of an angle} (Math.), the point in which the sides of
        the angle meet.
  
     {Vertex of a solid}, or {Vertex of a surface of revolution}
        (Math.), the point in which the axis pierces the surface.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  vertex
       n 1: the point of intersection of lines or the point opposite the
            base of a figure
       2: the highest point (of something); "at the peak of the
          pyramid" [syn: {peak}, {apex}, {acme}]
       [also: {vertices} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  76 Moby Thesaurus words for "vertex":
     L, acme, angle, apex, apogee, bend, bifurcation, bight, brow, cant,
     cap, chevron, climax, cloud nine, coin, corner, crank, crest,
     crook, crotchet, crown, culmen, culmination, deflection, dogleg,
     edge, elbow, ell, extreme limit, extremity, fork, furcation,
     heaven, heavens, height, heights, high noon, highest pitch,
     highest point, hook, inflection, knee, limit, maximum, meridian,
     mountaintop, ne plus ultra, no place higher, nook, noon, peak,
     pinnacle, pitch, point, pole, quoin, ridge, roof, seventh heaven,
     sky, spire, summit, swerve, tip, tip-top, top, upmost,
     upper extremity, uppermost, utmost, veer, very top, zag, zenith,
     zig, zigzag