# square

> English word · Noun · IPA /skwɛə/ · frequency rank #1,541

## Definitions
1. A polygon with four straight sides of equal length and four right angles; an equilateral rectangle; a regular quadrilateral.
2. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form.
3. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form.
4. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form.
5. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form.
6. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form.
7. An L- or T-shaped tool used to place objects or draw lines at right angles.
8. An L- or T-shaped tool used to place objects or draw lines at right angles.
9. An open space or park, often in the center of a town, not necessarily square in shape, often containing trees, seating and other features pleasing to the eye.
10. An open space or park, often in the center of a town, not necessarily square in shape, often containing trees, seating and other features pleasing to the eye.
11. The product of a number or quantity multiplied by itself; the second power of a number, value, term or expression.
12. A pattern to be matched that consists of a subpattern repeated, such as "papa" or "wikiwiki".
13. A body of troops drawn up in a square formation.
14. A socially conventional or conservative person; a person who has little or no interest in the latest fads or trends.
15. The symbol # on a telephone; hash.
16. The central area of a cricket field, with one or more pitches of which only one is used at a time.
17. A unit of measurement of area, equal to a 10 foot by 10 foot square, i.e. 100 square feet or roughly 9.3 square metres. Used in real estate for the size of a house or its rooms, though progressively being replaced by square metres in metric countries such as Australia.
18. A unit used in measuring roof area equivalent to 100 square feet (9.29 m²) of roof area. The materials for roofing jobs are often billed by the square in the United States.
19. A mortarboard.
20. Ellipsis of square meal.
21. Exact proportion; justness of workmanship and conduct; regularity; rule.
22. The relation of harmony, or exact agreement; equality; level.
23. The position of planets distant ninety degrees from each other; a quadrate.
24. The act of squaring, or quarrelling; a quarrel.
25. Cigarette.
26. A vat used for fermentation.
27. A well-defined torso.

## Etymology
From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- + quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra.
Displaced Old English fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

## Easily confused with
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-sure)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-stare)
- **squat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squat)
- **suave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-suave)
- **squaw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squaw)
- **Stuart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-stuart)
- **squash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squash)
- **Suarez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-suarez)
- **squire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squire)
- **squirt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squirt)
- **squirm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squirm)
- **squared** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squared)
- **squarely** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squarely)
- **share** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/share-vs-square)
- **squad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squad-vs-square)
- **spare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-square)
- **scare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scare-vs-square)
- **snare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/snare-vs-square)
- **squall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squall-vs-square)

## Common misspellings (8)
`qsuare`, `sqaure`, `sqquare`, `squaer`, `squarre`, `squrae`, `ssquare`, `suqare`

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