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What is the difference between length and dimension?

length | dimension |

As nouns the difference between length and dimension

is that length is the measurement of distance along the longest dimension of an object while dimension is a single aspect of a given thing.

As verbs the difference between length and dimension

is that length is (obsolete) to lengthen while dimension is to mark, cut or shape something to specified dimensions.

length

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.
  • duration
  • * Robert Frost
  • Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length .
  • (horse racing) The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.
  • (mathematics) Distance between the two ends of a line segment.
  • (cricket) The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.
  • (figuratively) Total extent.
  • the length of a book
  • Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.
  • a length of rope

    Derived terms

    * arm's length * at length * cable length * feature-length * floor-length * focal length * full-length * good length * go to great lengths * half-length * knee-length * lengthen * lengthful * length overall * lengthways * lengthwise * lengthy * line and length * null patch length * overlength * path length * screening length * short of a length * wavelength * zero-length launching

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To lengthen.
  • * 1599 , , XIV. 30:
  • Pack night, peep day; good day, of night now borrow: / Short night, to-night, and length thyself to-morrow.

    dimension

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A single aspect of a given thing.
  • A measure of spatial extent in a particular direction, such as height, width or breadth, or depth.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
  • , author=Robert L. Dorit , title=Rereading Darwin , volume=100, issue=1, page=23 , magazine= citation , passage=We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.}}
  • A construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished.
  • (geometry) The number of independent coordinates needed to specify uniquely the location of a point in a space; also, any of such independent coordinates.
  • (linear algebra) The number of elements of any basis of a vector space.
  • (physics) One of the physical properties that are regarded as fundamental measures of a physical quantity, such as mass, length and time.
  • The dimension of velocity is length divided by time.
  • (computing) Any of the independent ranges of indices in a multidimensional array.
  • (science fiction, fantasy) An alternative universe or plane of existence.
  • Synonyms

    * (single aspect of a thing ): aspect * (measure of spatial extent ): magnitude, proportion, size, scope * (construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished ): attribute, property

    Derived terms

    * * * * correlation dimension * dimensional * dimensional analysis * dimensional shingle * exterior dimension * four-dimensional * fourth dimension * fractal dimension * Hamel dimension * Hausdorff dimension * information dimension * isoperimetric dimension * Kaplan-Yorke dimension * Krull dimension * Lebesgue covering dimension * Lyapunov dimension * multidimensional * one-dimensional * pointwise dimension * poset dimension * q-dimension * third dimension * three-dimensional * transdimensional

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To mark, cut or shape something to specified dimensions.