[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/diagonal.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / diagonal

[← D](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/D/)

# diagonal

«diagonal» in Mova's school dictionary: **going in a slanting line, not straight across or straight up** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (diagonal); noun (a diagonal, diagonals); adverb diagonally

### meaning for a pupil

1) (adjective) Diagonal means going in a slanting line, not straight across or straight up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#m1)

2) (maths, noun) A diagonal is a straight line that joins two corners of a shape that are not next to each other. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#m2)

3) (adverb) Diagonally means in a slanting direction, from one corner towards the opposite one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

A key geometry word: a square and a rectangle each have 2 diagonals, a pentagon has 5, a triangle has none. In everyday life you cut sandwiches diagonally or cross a field diagonally. In chess the bishop moves diagonally. Phrases: diagonal line, draw the diagonal, diagonally opposite.

### examples

- Draw a diagonal from one corner of the square to the opposite corner. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#x1)
- A rectangle has two diagonals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#x2)
- Mum cut my toast diagonally into triangles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#x3)
- The bishop moves diagonally across the chessboard. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#x4)
- Our house is diagonally opposite the shop. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#x5)
- The diagonal stripes on his tie were red and blue. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#x6)
- A triangle has no diagonals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/#x7)

### note

In maths: the two diagonals of a square are equal and cross at right angles; a diagonal cuts a square or rectangle into two equal triangles; a polygon with n sides has n × (n − 3) ÷ 2 diagonals (hexagon: 6 × 3 ÷ 2 = 9). Sides are not diagonals.

### In the corpora

- [Adding a diagonal strut to a square frame divides it into two triangles and makes it rigid.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/86-building-strong-things/22/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «diagonal» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diagonal/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.