square the circle

English

Verb

square the circle (third-person singular simple present squares the circle, present participle squaring the circle, simple past and past participle squared the circle)

1. (geometry) To construct a square with the same area as a given circle by using only a finite number of steps with compass and straightedge, a task which is mathematically impossible.
   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.24:

     The problem of squaring the circle is the problem of determining the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter, which is called π.

2. (figurative) To solve a famously difficult or impossible problem.

Translations

to construct a square with the same area as a circle

• Arabic: رَبَّعَ الدائِرة (rabbaʕa d-dāʔira)
• Finnish: neliöidä ympyrä
• German: den Kreis quadrieren
• Greek: τετραγωνίζω τον κύκλο (tetragonízo ton kýklo)
• Hungarian: kört négyszögesít
• Italian: trovare la quadratura del cerchio

to solve a difficult problem

• Finnish: neliöidä ympyrä
• German: die Quadratur des Kreises finden
• Greek: τετραγωνίζω τον κύκλο (tetragonízo ton kýklo)
• Hungarian: kört négyszögesít
• Italian: trovare la quadratura del cerchio
• Spanish: hallar la cuadratura del círculo
• Walloon: trover ene pire k' est ronde et plate et cwårêye (wa)

See also

• squircle
• square peg in a round hole (semantic overlap regarding a difficult problem)

Further reading

• squaring the circle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia