What does geometry mean?
Word: Geometry
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Geometry means the branch of maths that studies shapes, lines, angles, surfaces and solid figures, and how they fit together in space.
Word origin: Comes from Greek words meaning earth and measure, because it began with measuring land.
How do you spell geometry?
Syllables: ge - om - e - try
Tricky part: The stress falls on om, so the e after the m is said very weakly and students write geomatry.
Watch out for: geomatry, geomitry
Memory tip: The vowel after the m is the same e you write in metre, the unit you measure lines with.
Geometry in a sentence
Example 1: Ravi finds geometry easier than algebra because he can draw the problems.
Example 2: Our geometry teacher made us prove that the angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees.
Example 3: Spiders seem to know a lot of geometry when they spin their webs.
Fun Fact
Euclid, a teacher in Alexandria around 300 BC, wrote a geometry book called the Elements, and schools were still teaching from versions of it about two thousand years later.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) perimiter
b) arithmatic
c) geometry
d) calculater
Show answer
c) geometry. Arithmetic, perimeter and calculator each have one wrong vowel, so geometry is the word left standing.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
g__metry
a) o, e
b) i, o
c) e, o
d) e, a
Show answer
c) e, o. The word starts with geo, which means earth.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
geometrry
a) r
b) y
c) t
d) m
Show answer
a) r. Only one r comes before the y.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
ytgmoere
a) geometry
b) symmetry
c) mystery
d) chemistry
Show answer
a) geometry. Symmetry needs an s and two m's, chemistry needs a c, h, i and s, and mystery has no g or o.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which tool would you use in geometry to draw a perfect circle?
a) a thermometer
b) a compass
c) a stapler
d) a magnet
Show answer
b) a compass
2. A student working on geometry would most likely measure ____.
a) the price of rice
b) the sides of a rectangle
c) the speed of a train
d) the weight of a parcel
Show answer
b) the sides of a rectangle
