Dimension

A dimension is a measure of spatial extent, a measurement in one direction, or the description of the size or extent of an object or region or a solid in terms of length, height, or width. In physics and mathematics, the word dimension can have general meanings which are not restricted to the physical place. The concept of dimension is not restricted to physical objects. A dimension, as in dimension of a vector space, is a concept in linear algebra that is a generalization of the notion of geometric dimensions, and of the number of degrees of freedom of a physical object. The dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it – for example, the point at 5 on a number line. A surface, such as the surface of a cube or the graph of y = x², has a dimension of two because two coordinates are needed to specify a point on it – for example, (3, 5) or (4, 2). The inside of the cube, a solid, has a dimension of three because three coordinates are needed to locate a point within it – for example, (3, 5, 4). In the translation to Hebrew, the word for dimension is ממד (mimed). In Spanish, it is dimensión, in French, dimension, in German, Dimension, and in Japanese, 次元 (jigen).