dilations
|di-la-tion-s|
🇺🇸
/daɪˈleɪʃən/
🇬🇧
/daɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/
(dilation)
spreading out / enlargement
Etymology
'dilation' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'dilatatio' (from the verb 'dilatare'), where 'di-/dis-' meant 'apart' (or an intensifier) and 'latus' meant 'wide' or 'broad'.
'dilation' changed from Latin 'dilatatio' into Old/Medieval French forms and entered Middle English as 'dilacioun'/'dilation', eventually becoming the modern English word 'dilation'.
Initially it meant 'a spreading out or widening', and over time it retained that core sense while also developing specialized technical meanings (e.g., medical and mathematical senses).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the act or process of dilating; widening or expansion (physically increasing width or diameter).
Repeated dilations of the artery were necessary to restore blood flow.
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Noun 2
a medical increase in the diameter of an opening or vessel (e.g., pupil dilation or dilation of the cervix).
The study recorded dilations of the pupils in response to the stimulus.
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Noun 3
(Mathematics/geometry) A transformation that produces a figure similar to the original by scaling distances from a fixed center (a scaling or homothety).
The dilations centered at the origin produced similar triangles of different sizes.
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Last updated: 2025/08/28 15:57