Dictionary

asymmetry en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /æɪˈsɪmɪtɹi/ (Australia)
• /eɪˈsɪmɪtɹi/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• audio Colorado

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀσυμμετρία (asummetría), from ἀσύμμετρος (asúmmetros) + -ία (-ía), from ἀ- (a-) + σύμμετρος (súmmetros); equivalent to a- + symmetry.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) An absence of symmetry or proportion between the parts of a thing, or a distinction that produces such a lack of symmetry.
   • If the planet is on moderate eccentric orbit (0.01), it creates large-scale azimuthal assymetries which evolve at the orbital velocity of the corresponding resonance, for example at half time the planet velocity for the stronger resonance, the 2:1 one. 1994, Roger Ferlet, Alfred Vidal-Madjar, Circumstellar Dust Disks and Planet Formation, →ISBN:
   • In this sense, the concern of political economy with assymetries of information among political actors is well-placed. 1997, American Bar Foundation, ABF Working Paper - Issue 9304; Issue 9426, page 75:
   • Transnational feminists argue that feminists need to understand the material conditions that shape women's lives in diverse locations, particularly in a world "structured by transnational economic links and cultural assymetries" (Grewal and Kaplan, 3). 2014, Amal Amireh, Lisa Suhair Majaj, Going Global: The Transnational Reception of Third World Women Writers, →ISBN:
   • Despite the generally symmetrical appearance of the two hemispheres, however, a number of biological asymmetries have been documented during the last hundred years. 1993, Joseph B. Hellige, Hemispheric Asymmetry: What's Right and What's Left, →ISBN, page 114:
2. (countable, uncountable) The lack of a common measure between two objects or quantities; incommensurability.

Forms

Deriveds

magnetoasymmetry · pseudoasymmetry · asymmetrization

Translations (35)

sh асимѐтрија (lack of symmetry or proportion) · sh asimètrija (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ja アシンメトリー (lack of symmetry or proportion) · nl asymmetrie (lack of symmetry or proportion) · es asimetría (lack of symmetry or proportion) · it asimmetria (lack of symmetry or proportion) · fi epäsymmetria (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ka ასიმეტრია (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ar عَدَم تَنَاسُق (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ga aisiméadracht (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ro asimetrie (lack of symmetry or proportion) · tr asimetri (lack of symmetry or proportion) · fi asymmetria (lack of symmetry or proportion) · el ασυμμετρία (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ru асимметри́я (lack of symmetry or proportion) · pl asymetria (lack of symmetry or proportion) · cs asymetrie (lack of symmetry or proportion) · sl àsimetríja (lack of symmetry or proportion) · sv asymmetri (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ast asimetría (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ko 비대칭 (lack of symmetry or proportion) · gl disimetría (lack of symmetry or proportion) · pt assimetria (lack of symmetry or proportion) · gl asimetría (lack of symmetry or proportion) · it dissimmetria (lack of symmetry or proportion) · de Asymmetrie (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ga neamhshiméadracht (lack of symmetry or proportion) · nb asymmetri (lack of symmetry or proportion) · be асіме́трыя (lack of symmetry or proportion) · fr asymétrie (lack of symmetry or proportion) · cmn 不對稱 /不对称 (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ca asimetria (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ja 非対称 (lack of symmetry or proportion) · ja 非対称性 (lack of symmetry or proportion) · tl awamparianyo (lack of symmetry or proportion)