# What is the name of the shape of a modern ice cube? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444 "2006-01-24T21:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Level3Navigator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Level3Navigator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Level3Navigator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/1 "2006-01-24T21:02:09Z")
So they call them icen cubes, but they aren’t really cubes, are they? I’m talking about the kind of ice you get out of a modern freezer’s ice tray. They have the shape as if you had bisected a circle with a chord and then extended that two dimensional shape into the z-axis. Flat on one end, curved on the other, if you get my drift. The incorrectness of calling it a cube caught my attention, and I wondered if anyone on the board has a good name for this common shape. ---
**Author:** ![Level3Navigator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Level3Navigator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Level3Navigator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/2 "2006-01-24T21:03:30Z")
> [@Level3Navigator](#): > > So they call them icen cubes, but they aren’t really cubes, are they? I mean “ice,” not “icen.” Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/3 "2006-01-24T21:09:51Z")
For that matter, what’s the name of the sorta truncated pyramid that you get out of an ice tray? Four of the faces are trapezoids, but the top and bottom are rectangles. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/4 "2006-01-24T21:15:19Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > For that matter, what’s the name of the sorta truncated pyramid that you get out of an ice tray? Four of the faces are trapezoids, but the top and bottom are rectangles. [Frustrum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frustrum) of a pyramid. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/5 "2006-01-24T21:20:40Z")
> [@Level3Navigator](#): > > (snip)…I’m talking about the kind of ice you get out of a modern freezer’s ice tray. …(snip) To clarify, it sounds to me like you are talking about a freezer with an automatic ice maker. Is this correct, or do you mean the plastic trays that you fill out of the faucet and put in the freezer? (Not that answering will get you any help from me, as I wouldn’t know the answer either way). ---
**Author:** ![Level3Navigator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Level3Navigator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Level3Navigator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/6 "2006-01-24T21:21:57Z")
> [@Lambo](#): > > To clarify, it sounds to me like you are talking about a freezer with an automatic ice maker. Is this correct, or do you mean the plastic trays that you fill out of the faucet and put in the freezer? > > (Not that answering will get you any help from me, as I wouldn’t know the answer either way). An automatic ice maker, exactly. Sorry if that wasn’t clear (and re-reading the OP, it wasn’t). ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/7 "2006-01-24T21:22:26Z")
Cylindrical section? ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/8 "2006-01-24T21:28:45Z")
> [@Level3Navigator](#): > > I’m talking about the kind of ice you get out of a modern freezer’s ice tray. They have the shape as if you had bisected a circle with a chord and then extended that two dimensional shape into the z-axis. Flat on one end, curved on the other, if you get my drift. Well, if you take a full circle and extend it along the z-axis, you would have a _cylinder_. The part of a circle that is “cut off” by a chord is called a _circular segment_. So if someone put a gun to my head and forced me to give that “ice cube” shape a name, I’d call it a _cylindrical segment_. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/9 "2006-01-24T23:13:02Z")
Irregular four-sided-solid? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/10 "2006-01-24T23:18:58Z")
Round these parts they are called moon cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/11 "2006-01-25T00:03:52Z")
Round these parts we call them ice cubes. 🙂 Doesn’t matter that they’re not cuboid. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/12 "2006-01-25T01:08:04Z")
> [@Level3Navigator](#): > > So they call them icen cubes, but they aren’t really cubes, are they? > I’m talking about the kind of ice you get out of a modern freezer’s ice tray. They have the shape as if you had bisected a circle with a chord and then extended that two dimensional shape into the z-axis. Flat on one end, curved on the other, if you get my drift. WAG Chordal segment? A straight sided section of the circumference of a short cylinder. Sort of looks like the rocker off a chair with the inside of the curve filled in up to a line connecting the two ends. I’m quite sure there is a specific name for this specific shape. Just cant recall or find it. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/13 "2006-01-25T01:15:14Z")
hockey puck split vertically ? mabye a polygon ---
**Author:** ![Baine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Baine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baine)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/14 "2006-01-25T01:20:17Z")
I just call it “ice”. Or “piece of ice” if I want to be more specific. “Fill this cup with ice.” “I dropped a piece of ice on the floor.” ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/15 "2006-01-25T05:29:03Z")
I have always heard and referred to the 1/2 round ice “cubes” as crescent-shaped. Oxymoronically, it seems they are always called ice cubes, even when the shape is anything but cubical. Stranger still, it never struck me as odd until just now to hear someone refer to round ice cubes, or crescent ice cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/16 "2006-01-25T05:41:10Z")
Something made of gold is golden. Something made of silk is silken. Something made of wood is wooden. Something made of wool is woolen. So the suffix -en must mean ‘made of’. Then there’s “icen.” Makes sense, actually. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/17 "2006-01-25T05:48:20Z")
> [@Mbossa](#): > > Well, if you take a full circle and extend it along the z-axis, you would have a _cylinder_. The part of a circle that is “cut off” by a chord is called a _circular segment_. So if someone put a gun to my head and forced me to give that “ice cube” shape a name, I’d call it a _cylindrical segment_. This seems the most reasonable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/18 "2006-01-25T05:52:02Z")
> [@Level3Navigator](#): > > An automatic ice maker, exactly. Sorry if that wasn’t clear (and re-reading the OP, it wasn’t). A semi-circular prism or half a cylinder ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/19 "2006-01-25T05:56:48Z")
This is quite interesting because all of the ice trays I’ve ever used have produced ice pieces that \*\*are \*\* roughly cubic. I just measured one from my refrigerator (geeky I know) and it’s about 3.2 cm x 3.0 cm x 3.0cm. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444/20 "2006-01-25T07:30:19Z")
When I first saw the thread title, I was thinking parallelopiped. The household freezer trays for making cubes I remember in the old days produced _skewed_ sorts of icen parallelopipeds, not orthogonal. Does anyone still use those? The dimensions of the Ka‘bah are roughly 30’ x 40’ x 50’. Although its name literally means ‘cube’, it too is a paralellopiped. Recall Sharon Stone in _Basic Instinct_ with her icepick. Too stylish to use cubes, she stabbed blocks of ice to make irregular ice shards. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-shape-of-a-modern-ice-cube/341444.md?page=2)