# polytope

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɒlɪˌtəʊp/

## Definitions
1. A geometric shape (of any number of dimensions) which is fully enclosed and has flat sides, making it a member of the generalized class of shapes which includes the two-dimensional polygon and three-dimensional polyhedron; (formally) a finite region of n-dimensional space bounded by hyperplanes.

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from German Polytop, originally coined by German mathematician Reinhold Hoppe in 1882, and first used in English by British mathematician Alicia Boole Stott in her 1910 paper Geometrical deduction of semiregular from regular polytopes and space fillings. By surface analysis, poly- (“many”) + -tope (“surface”), from Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos, “region; area”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/polytope