10
$\begingroup$

Many writers seem to use the words "Shape" and "Figure" interchangeably, and few give definitions of these terms. Is there a difference, and if so what is it ?

  • 2
    This is a good question though +1 – 2017-01-03

4 Answers 4

7

The definitions suffice sometimes to tell the difference. Taken from Wikipedia and Mathwords, the following are the definitions of Shape and Figure:

From Wikipedia

A geometric shape is the geometric information which remains when location, scale, orientation and reflection are removed from the description of a geometric object.

From Mathwords

A geometric figure is any set of points on a plane or in space.

But most often they can be use differently according to context or circumstances, so being a reader it depends on the conclusive mind of yours and context that what does these terms mean, but prefer these if you have got nothing as information.

  • 1
    Consider 3-dimensional geometric objects resembling (1) the left shoe and (2) the right shoe - are they examples of "geometric shapes"? If so, are they the same shape or different? (From the above definition, they seem to be the same shape... provided they can be made identical by a single reflection.) – 2017-01-03
  • 1
    @Alex I would consider them to be the same "shape" (unless working in a context where orientation is explicitly made part of the definition of a "shape"). Just as I would consider all right triangles with one angle of $\pi/6$ to be the same "shape". – 2017-01-03
  • 2
    @Alex, As far as I think (I m a little confused whether it is correct or not), they are same shape if the reflection is identically similar in all aspects. Not only the matchhing of shoe suffice – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    Yes; but now let's see if Harsh Kumar agrees that 3-dimensional objects are allowed as "shapes" at all; judging by examples in the other answer all shape examples seem to be 2-dimensional (?) – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    Some more examples: Is **point** a shape? How about **set of three noncollinear points equidistant from each other** - is this "geometric object" a shape? (From the above definition, these apparently are shapes too...) – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    @Alex, does a point have orientation?? – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    As far as orientation is concerned, **point** is quite similar to **sphere**; both seem to **lack orientation**. Do we have to admit that that both **point** and **sphere** are shapes?? – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    @Alex I think the sphere is.. But point is not because, there is no orientation to change – 2017-01-03
  • 2
    Especially comparing two definitions from _different_ sources, I wouldn't depend on being able to reliably communicate these nuances through word choice alone. Such an attempt certainly wouldn't work on me! – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    @HenningMakholm, I agree. It also bother me sometime. But I couldn't get definition from same source and creating my own def. does not make sense a lot – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    Please use direct links instead of forcing all readers to go through the Google redirector. I've edited your answer this time. – 2017-01-03
  • 0
    Okay @Rahul, and thanks – 2017-01-03
6

There are nuances one might want to distinguish between here (for example whether a different scale, orientation or position makes something into a different figure/shape), but there is no widespread and generally understood convention for how to make those distinction with a choice between "shape" and "figure".

As a writer, you should not depend on a reader understanding such differences from your choice of words, so if you need to make the distinction, you'll need to explain explicitly how you use each word.

As a reader, be extremely wary of assuming that an author is using the words with any particular distinction in mind, unless he explicitly explains that he is. At worst, you may need to reconstruct the particular definitions the author is using such that what he says makes sense.

1

A geometric shape is determined by how intrinsic slope and curvature of lines, and double curvature of areas vary depending on its plane or spatial coordinates. A figure is an assembly of points and lines.

0

Geometric figure are those which forms in a question and a part of it. And geometric shape are such as circle, rectangle, square etc.

  • 5
    Is **straight line** a shape? Is **line segment** a shape? Is **sphere** a shape? Must all shapes be 2-dimensional? Or are 3-dimensional shapes allowed? Are 1-dimensional shapes allowed? – 2017-01-03