# Is there a name for this shape? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726 "2005-06-17T17:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/1 "2005-06-17T17:05:56Z")
Take two gothic windows and place them end to end. It’s like a rectangle with arched points on the short ends. Or, like a sword that some confused blacksmith put two points on instead of a hilt. Does it have a name? Help me, Obi-Wan Kedopers. You’re my only hope! ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/2 "2005-06-17T17:07:39Z")
I think you might be describing a kite. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/3 "2005-06-17T17:11:13Z")
Here’s a “cite” for the “kite”: [http://wisheights.k12.wi.us/math/images/jake/kite.html](http://wisheights.k12.wi.us/math/images/jake/kite.html) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/4 "2005-06-17T17:17:11Z")
Are the points triangular or arc-like? ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/5 "2005-06-17T17:22:47Z")
I believe you are simply describing an [elongated hexagon](https://shop.tbc.net/paperpieces/catimg/Elongated_Hexagon_w_ruler.JPG). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/6 "2005-06-17T17:28:04Z")
What you’re describing is a symmetrical figure composed of two identical arcs, joined at their endpoints; or the figure caused by a plane bisecting a football, through its point-to-point axis. I have no idea what it’s called. How about a “BiGoth”? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/7 "2005-06-17T17:29:50Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Are the points triangular or arc-like? A pointed arch. A [gothic window](http://www.renovators-resource.com/church/glass2.php) is the best example I can come up with for the shape, but I want a shape with two points. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/8 "2005-06-17T17:33:14Z")
> [@TwoTrouts](#): > > I believe you are simply describing an [elongated hexagon](https://shop.tbc.net/paperpieces/catimg/Elongated_Hexagon_w_ruler.JPG). Almost. But with arched ends instead of angled. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/9 "2005-06-17T17:48:18Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > A pointed arch. A [gothic window](http://www.renovators-resource.com/church/glass2.php) is the best example I can come up with for the shape, but I want a shape with two points. That’s what I thought. The kite talk was throwing me off. I don’t know what the technical term is, but in the vernacular I believe it’s a _lozenge_. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/10 "2005-06-17T18:35:19Z")
**twickster** Sorry for pointing the discussion in the kite direction. (I really didn’t know what a Gothic window was - until 10 minutes ago). I thought a kite was the answer. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/11 "2005-06-17T18:39:24Z")
Not a prob. I wasn’t sure _who_ was confused – that’s why I asked for clarification. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/12 "2005-06-17T20:34:18Z")
I dunno the real name for it, but I’d just call it a “pill shape” or “like a PSP”. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/13 "2005-06-17T20:45:25Z")
I’ve read it as “capsule-shaped” in professional publications. I know that doesn’t mean anything, but there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/14 "2005-06-17T20:49:42Z")
Terminator. In FlowChartSpeak. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/15 "2005-06-17T21:25:52Z")
Okay, if nothing else, I might as well contribute a drawing. So **jsgodess** , is the shape you are describing more like the top figure, the bottom or both? [![](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/wolf_meister/sdmb.gif) ](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/wolf_meister/sdmb.gif) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/16 "2005-06-17T22:28:20Z")
Spindle? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/17 "2005-06-17T22:34:54Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Terminator. In FlowChartSpeak. Not so much. She’s looking for pointy bits on the ends. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/18 "2005-06-17T22:46:22Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Not so much. She’s looking for pointy bits on the ends. There’s whole online communities looking for pointy bits on the ends… I think she’s talking about the shape formed by two arcs intersecting with their concave sides facing each other. Or what people used to call a _pescis_. We know it as the main shape of a Jesus fish. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/19 "2005-06-17T22:48:20Z")
[Is this the shape you’re looking for, **jsgoddess**?](http://www.tnl-ink.com/images/pic171.gif) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726/20 "2005-06-17T23:35:38Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Here’s a “cite” for the “kite”: > [http://wisheights.k12.wi.us/math/images/jake/kite.html](http://wisheights.k12.wi.us/math/images/jake/kite.html) The creator of that website’s background should never be let near a computer again. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-shape/308726.md?page=2)