Names of Shapes: A Comprehensive List and Guide
Comprehensive Definition, Description, Examples & Rules
Knowing the shapes’ names is helpful, and many of us are unaware or fail to relate the shapes and their names we see. There are various types of shapes and lines, thus making it necessary to know the names of different shapes.
Introduction
Suppose someone is describing a building and says it is hexagonal. You might have wondered for a while how a hexagon looks and how many sides it has. Understanding the shapes’ names in mathematics is not essential for those who work with Maths and Geometry, but for everyone, as shapes surround us.
What are shapes?
Shapes are an object’s outer boundary, outer surface, outline or form. Every object has a shape. For example, a smartphone is rectangular, whereas a freshly made pizza is a circle. The globe is a geoid. Shapes can be two-dimensional or three-dimensional, like a Rubik’s Cube is three-dimensional. There are names of diamond shapes, too!
Different types of Shapes in Maths
Shapes in Maths can be of different types based on their dimensions. There are many solid shapes names based on dimensions:
- 2-dimensional or 2D shapes have two dimensions or measurements: length and breadth. Example: square, rectangle
- 3-dimensional shapes: 3-D shapes have three dimensions: length, breadth/width and height. Example: cube, cuboid
Names of the Shapes in English and Number of Sides
Shapes are straight and curved lines. Lines are made of points. Many points make a line. Below is the list of names of different shapes
including names of shapes with 6 sides, names of shapes with 7 sides and their number of sides.
- Circle: A two-dimensional closed figure that has no corners or edges. Being round in shape, the wheels of a vehicle and a pizza are all circular.
- Oval: An oval is a round, elongated shape with no corners or edges. An egg and the number zero are all examples of oval shapes.
- Quadrilateral: a figure with four straight lines. It includes the following:
- Square: A closed shape, it is 2D and has four corners. It has four lines of equal length. A chessboard is a square.
- Rectangle: Like a square, it also has 4 sides with the same opposing lengths. A laptop is an example of a rectangle.
- Parallelogram: The opposite sides are equal and parallel.
- Rhombus: Opposite sides are parallel, and all sides are equal.
- Polygons: Ever wondered what are the names of the polygon shapes? These shapes are 2-dimensional geometric shapes with three or more straight lines. It means a triangle, a hexagon, an octagon or a pentagon can be called a polygon:
- Triangle: A plane figure which has three straight sides and three angles.
- Hexagon: A plane figure with six straight sides and angles.
- Octagon: A plane figure with eight straight sides and eight angles.
Different Shape Names in Mathematics with Pictures and Examples
Shape names, whether names of polygon shapes or any other type of shape, are effortless to learn with the help of images and examples. In the table, you will find the names of the shapes in English and their images and examples.
Shape | Name | Example |
 | Rectangle | books, cell phones, laptop |
 | Square | slice of bread, chess board, wall clock |
 | Triangle | sandwiches, cloth hangers, nachos |
 | Circle | wheel, round wall clock, coin |
 | Oval | cricket ground, earth’s orbit around the sun, mirror |
 | Sphere | balls, globes, ballon |
 | Trapezium | lamp, table lamp, popcorn tub |
 | Rhombus | diamond, kite, earrings |
 | Hexagon | honey comb, nuts, sections of football |
 | Cube | ice cubes, dice, gift box, |
 | Cylinder | pen/pencil holder, soda can, candle |
List of 3-D Shape Names
Three-dimensional shapes have three dimensions: length, width and height. They include names of shapes with 6 sides and names of shapes with 7 sides. The names of the 3D shapes we frequently come across are:
- Cube: a 3-D geometric figure made up of 6 squares. It has 6 faces. Dice is the perfect example of it.
- Cuboid: another three-dimensional figure made up of rectangles. A book or pencil box are examples of this shape.
- Sphere: a closed 3D geometric shape formed using a circular base. The balls used in sports or for playing, such as football and basketball, are examples of spheres.
- Cylinder: It has two flat ends in a circular formation. It is formed by folding a rectangle. For example, soda cans and water bottles are in this shape.
- Cone: it has a flat base. The base is circular. It has a pointed edge at the top called the apex—for example, ice cream cones and clown hats.
Why is teaching shapes important for children?
Children learn better with visuals and illustrations. Their attention span increases with colours and shapes. Teaching them the names of different shapes becomes a requisite.
Knowing the shapes’ names in mathematics and the names of unusual shapes is crucial for them to understand the arrangement of data visually and learn the basic mathematical principles in kindergarten and higher classes.
Conclusion
The names of shapes are easy to learn and help us communicate and describe things better. Math, especially geometry, becomes exciting if we comprehend the concept of shapes and their principles.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Shapes and their names depend on the shapes’ dimensions: Circle, Square, Rectangle, Triangle, Cube, Cuboid, Sphere, Cylinder, etc.
The list of shapes we commonly see around us are:
- Triangle.
- Circle.
- Semi-Circle.
- Square.
- Rectangle.
- Cube
- Sphere
- Cuboid
- Cylinder
- Parallelogram.
- Rhombus.
- Trapezium.
One of the most critical aspects of shape identification is visual perception. It means seeing a shape and recognising it. By visual perception, we can differentiate between a sphere and a circle, a square and a rectangle.
The names of the shapes with different sides are:
Triangle: 3 sides
Rectangle: 4 sides
Square: 4 sides
Rhombus: 4 sides
Pentagon: 5 sides
hexagon: 6 sides
Heptagon: 7 sides
Octagon: 8 sides
The 9 basic shapes are:
- Circle
- Square
- Rectangle
- Sphere
- Triangle
- Cube
- Cuboid
- Cylinder
- Rhombus
Geometry has different types of triangles based on their sides and angles:
equilateral, right isosceles, obtuse isosceles, acute isosceles, right scalene, obtuse scalene, and acute scalene.
Art is a fantastic way to express ourselves, and it is dependent on shapes to do that. There are two main shapes in art: geometric and organic.
Shapes can have interesting names depending on their sides. A 12-sided shape is called a dodecagon. It is a 12-sided polygon.
A square has 4 sides of equal length, but another condition of a square is that the sides meet at 90 degrees. So the following can also be called names of a square:
- quadrilateral
- rhombus
- rectangle
- Parallelogram
- trapezoid
A quadrilateral is a polygon. Therefore, you should know the names of the polygons. They have the following properties:
- 4 vertices and 4 sides enclosing 4 angles
- The sum of all interior angles of a quadrilateral is 360 degrees
That makes the following quadrilaterals:
- Trapezium
- Trapezoid
- Isosceles Trapezoid
- Parallelogram
- Rectangle
- Rhombus
- Square
- Kite
A quadrilateral is a 4 sided closed figure. That means a square is a quadrilateral, and so is a rectangle.
