Symmetric

//sɪˈmɛt.ɹɪk// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Synonym of symmetrical
2
Of a relation R on a set S, such that xRy if and only if yRx for all members x and y of S (that is, if the relation holds between any element and a second, it also holds between the second and the first).
""Is a sibling of" is a symmetric relation."
3
Using the same key (or keys that are trivially related) for both encryption and decryption.

Adjective

1
having similarity in size, shape, and relative position of corresponding parts wordnet

Synonyms

balanced coequal coordinate equal equilateral even

Antonyms

Example

"The relationship "A loves B" is not reflexive, transitive, or symmetric."

Etymology

From symmetry + -ic, from Latin symmetria, from Ancient Greek συμμετρία (summetría).

Related phrases

Carlson symmetric form axi-symmetric elementary symmetric polynomial skew symmetric skew-symmetric skew-symmetric determinant skew-symmetric matrix strongly symmetric matter symmetric difference symmetric function symmetric group symmetric matrix

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.