NAMING POLYGONS
PROCESS OF NAMING
POLYGONS – PART 1
Polygons with three to
99 sides
Polygons with 3 to
99 sides
Naming a polygon by its number of sides
requires that we know the appropriate
Greek prefixes along with some rules for
their use.
For polygons with 3 through 20 sides,
simply add "gon" to the prefixes (although
a trigon is more commonly called a triangle
and a tetragon, a quadrilateral).
NUMBER OF PREFIX NUMBER OF PREFIX
SIDES SIDES
3 TRI 12 DODECA
4 TETRA 13 TRISKAIDECA
5 PENTA 14 TETRADECA
6 HEXA/SEXA 15 PENTADECA
7 HEPTA 16 HEXADECA
8 OCTA 17 HEPTADECA
9 NONA/ENNEA 18 OCTADECA
10 DECA 19 ENNEADECA
11 UNDECA/HENDECA 20 ICOSA
For naming polygons with 3 to 99 sides,
construct the name by using so-called
combining prefixes... TENS DIGIT PREFIX
To “construct” a 2 ICOSI
name, start with the 3 TRIACONTA
prefix for the TENS
4 TETRACONTA
5 PENTACONTA
digit, 6 HEXACONTA
follow it by “kai” 7
8
HEPTACONTA
OCTACONTA
(Greek word for 9 ENNEACONTA
“and”)
Then follow it with the prefix for the unit's
digit ONES DIGIT PREFIX
1 HENA
2 DI
3 TRI
4 TETRA
5 PENTA
6 HEXA
7 HEPTA
8 OCTA
9 ENNEA
and finally add
“gon”
Example: A 35-sided polygon is called a
“triacontakaipentagon”
35 TENS PREFIX
TENS DIGIT
3 2 ICOSI
TRIACONTA 3 TRIACONTA
4 TETRACONTA
5 PENTACONTA
6 HEXACONTA
7 HEPTACONTA
8 OCTACONTA
9 ENNEACONTA
35 ONES
DIGIT
PREFIX
TENS AND ONES
3 AND 5 1 HENA
TRIACONTA KAI PENTA 2 DI
3 TRI
4 TETRA
5 PENTA
6 HEXA
7 HEPTA
8 OCTA
9 ENNEA
35
TENS AND ONES GON
3 AND 5 GON
TRIACONTA KAI PENTA GON
PROCESS OF NAMING
POLYGONS – PART 2
Polygons with 100 to
999 sides
Polygons with 3 to
99 sides
For naming polygons with 100 to 999
sides, you will need one more combining
prefix and another rule.
ONES DIGIT PREFIX
1 HENA
To “construct” the
2 DI name, start with
3 TRI
4 TETRA the prefix for the
5
6
PENTA
HEXA
hundreds digit
7 HEPTA taken from the
8 OCTA
9 ENNEA “one's digit” table.
Follow it by “hecta” then proceed with
the procedure for a naming a polygon
with 3 to 99 sides.
Example: A 672-sided polygon is called a
“hexahectaheptacontakaidigon”
67
2
HUNDREDS
672 ONES
DIGIT
PREFIX
1 HENA
6
2 DI
HEXA HECTA
3 TRI
4 TETRA
5 PENTA
6 HEXA
7 HEPTA
8 OCTA
9 ENNEA
HUNDREDS TENS
672 TENS
DIGIT
PREFIX
6 7 2 ICOSI
HEXA HECTA HEPTACONTA 3 TRIACONTA
4 TETRACONTA
5 PENTACONTA
6 HEXACONTA
7 HEPTACONTA
8 OCTACONTA
9 ENNEACONTA
HUNDREDS TENS
672 AND ONES
ONES
DIGIT
PREFIX
1 HENA
6 7 AND 2
2 DI
HEXA HECTA HEPTACONTA KAI DI
3 TRI
4 TETRA
5 PENTA
6 HEXA
7 HEPTA
8 OCTA
9 ENNEA
HUNDREDS TENS
672 AND ONES GON
6 7 AND 2 GON
HEXA HECTA HEPTACONTA KAI DI GON
