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Science & TechnologyGreekEnglish

Cylinder

A solid or hollow shape with straight sides and circular ends.

The Greek roots

κύλινδρος
kýlindros
roller

Literally: a roller

The story of the word

From the verb 'to roll' — a cylinder is quite literally the shape that rolls.

The same roots elsewhere

Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.

In a sentence

The engine's fourth cylinder had misfired.

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