perimeter

From Latin perimetros, Ancient Greek περίμετρος (perímetros). Equivalent to peri- +‎ meter.

• enPR: pərĭm'ĭtər
  • (Received Pronunciation, India) IPA^(key): /pəˈɹɪm.ɪ.tə(ɹ)/

    • Audio (Southern England)

      (file)

  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /pəˈɹɪm.ɪ.tɚ/, [pəˈɹɪm.ɪ.ɾɚ]
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): /pəˈɹɪm.ɪ.tə(ɹ)/, [pəˈɹɪm.ɪ.ɾə(ɹ)], /ˈpɹɪm.ɪ.tə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɪmɪtə(ɹ)

perimeter (plural perimeters)

1. (mathematics) The sum of the distance of all the lengths of the sides of an object.
2. (mathematics) The length of such a boundary.
3. The outer limits of an area.

   See synonyms at circumference.

   • 2002, Frank Tenaille, translated by Steven Toussaint and Hope Sandrine, Music Is the Weapon of the Future: Fifty Years of African Popular Music, Chicago, IL: Lawrence Hill Books, →ISBN, page 182:

     In 1977, Papa Wemba decided to change the name of his housing tract, in the outskirts of Kinshasa, to Village Molokai,² of which he declared himself traditional chief. Then, within this perimeter, he advocated a clothing style that featured, among its distinctions, a beret, and that went along with a way of walking, talking, and behaving toward others.

4. A fortified strip or boundary usually protecting a military position.
5. An instrument for determining the extent and shape of the field of vision.

• (mathematics): circumference

• (given grounds): premises

• peritreme