What does trapezium mean?
Word: Trapezium
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Trapezium means a flat shape with four straight sides in which one pair of opposite sides is parallel and the other pair is not.
How do you spell trapezium?
Syllables: tra - pe - zi - um
Tricky part: The stressed sound in the middle is a long ee, but it is spelt with a single e, so children often write ee or i there.
Watch out for: trapeezium, trapizium
Memory tip: A trapezium has only one pair of parallel sides, and it has only one e as well.
Trapezium in a sentence
Example 1: In maths today, our teacher drew a trapezium on the board and asked us to label its sides.
Example 2: Meera cut a trapezium out of card for her geometry project.
Example 3: Dad dug a flower bed shaped like a trapezium beside our gate.
Fun Fact
In British English, trapezium is the name for this shape, but in American English the same shape is called a trapezoid.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
trapez___
a) ium
b) eum
c) eam
d) iam
Show answer
a) ium. Like aquarium and stadium, this shape name ends in ium.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
muzipaert
a) a round flat figure whose edge is always the same distance from its centre
b) a solid with a flat base and triangular sides meeting at a point
c) a figure with six straight sides and six corners
d) a four-sided figure with only two of its sides parallel
Show answer
d) a four-sided figure with only two of its sides parallel. The letters make trapezium, and the other three describe a hexagon, a pyramid and a circle.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) rectangle
b) diagonal
c) symetry
d) trapezium
Show answer
c) symetry. Symmetry has a double m in the middle, just like hammer.
Word Champ
Which of the words cannot be made using the letters in the given word?
trapezium
a) pizza
b) umpire
c) prize
d) tapir
Show answer
a) pizza. Pizza needs two z's, but the given word has just one.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is shaped most like a trapezium?
a) the face of a round coin
b) an egg seen from the side
c) a triangular flag on a pole
d) the side view of a lampshade
Show answer
d) the side view of a lampshade
2. A trapezium and a square both have ____.
a) two pairs of parallel sides
b) four right angles inside
c) exactly four corners
d) four sides of equal length
Show answer
c) exactly four corners
