trapezium Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a quadrilateral with no parallel sides
  2. noun a multiple star in the constellation of Orion
  3. noun the wrist bone on the thumb side of the hand that articulates with the 1st and 2nd metacarpals
    os trapezium; trapezium bone.

WordNet

Tra*pe"zi*um noun
Etymology
NL., fr. Gr. a little table, an irregular four-sided figure, dim. of a table, for (see Tetra-) + foot, akin to foot; hence, originally, a table with four feet. See Foot.
Wordforms
plural E Trapeziums L Trapezia
Definitions
  1. (Geom.) A plane figure bounded by four right lines, of which no two are parallel.
  2. (Anat.) (a) A bone of the carpus at the base of the first metacarpal, or thumb. (b) A region on the ventral side of the brain, either just back of the pons Varolii, or, as in man, covered by the posterior extension of its transverse fibers.

Webster 1913