icosahedron

noun

ico·​sa·​he·​dron (ˌ)ī-ˌkō-sə-ˈhē-drən How to pronounce icosahedron (audio)
-ˌkä-
plural icosahedrons or icosahedra (ˌ)ī-ˌkō-sə-ˈhē-drə How to pronounce icosahedron (audio)
-ˌkä-
: a polyhedron having 20 faces

Examples of icosahedron in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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But many famous convex polyhedra — for instance the dodecahedron, or the truncated icosahedron, the shape that forms a soccer ball — are highly symmetric and difficult to analyze. Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025 Fuller started by building icosahedral domes but realized that larger structures containing more than twenty triangles could be made by taking the primary triangles and systematically assembling them into larger triangles, each of which could then be used to build an icosahedron. Judith Graf, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022 The symmetry group of the quasicrystal is the same as that of the regular 20-sided solid known as an icosahedron, and the chemistry is given by the formula Si61Cu30Ca7Fe2. David Bressan, Forbes, 18 May 2021 One popular design is based on the mathematical structure of an icosahedron, a three-dimensional shape built from equilateral triangles. Eugenia Cheng, WSJ, 19 Nov. 2020 For that kind of math, the icosahedron was the ideal random number generator. William Herkewitz, Popular Mechanics, 1 Sep. 2019 The arrangement of rotations which leave the objects looking unchanged is the same as that of a regular icosahedron. George Hart, Scientific American, 22 Mar. 2013

Word History

Etymology

Greek eikosaedron, from eikosi twenty + -edron -hedron — more at vigesimal

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of icosahedron was in 1570

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Cite this Entry

“Icosahedron.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/icosahedron. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.

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