square

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A flat shape with four equal sides and four right angles.

   Draw a square and colour it in.

2. 2
   noun

   An open, usually four-sided public space in a town, with buildings around it.

   We met for coffee in the town square.

3. 3
   adj

   Shaped like a square, with four equal sides and right angles.

   They sat at a small square table.

4. 4
   verb

   To multiply a number by itself.

   Four squared is sixteen.

5. 5
   adv

   Directly and firmly, straight at something.

   I looked him square in the eye.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Square came into Middle English through Old French esquare from Latin quadra, “square.” From the 17th century it could mean “honourable” or “upright,” an idea also found in fair and square, square deal, and square meal. By the mid-20th century, a square person was someone old-fashioned or boringly conventional.

From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- + quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra. Displaced Old English fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary