Sport & ContestGreek → English
Isometric
/ˌaɪsəˈmɛtrɪk/adjective
Keeping the same measure, whether of a muscle held under tension at constant length or of a drawing whose three axes are scaled alike.
The Greek roots
ἴσος
ísos
equal
μέτρον
métron
measure
Literally: “equal measure”
The story of the word
One compound, two working lives. In drawing it means the three axes shrink by the same amount, so a cube at the back of the picture is the same size as one at the front, the projection that gave early video games their tilted look. In physiology it means force without movement, which is what a plank is. Both senses are literal readings of equal measure.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
isotopesymmetrygeometrymetric
In a sentence
Two minutes of isometric holds does more for his back than any machine.