Miscellaneous desk
< March 17	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 19 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 18[edit]

Rectangles[edit]

Are there any specific names for rectangles whose longer side should be at the bottom and those whose shorter side should be at the bottom (e.g. when it comes to banners or heraldry)? Thanks. 212.180.235.46 (talk) 18:58, 18 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

In publications' layout you can find a 'landscape' and 'portrait' page orientation corresponding to what you describe. But I doubt it is used outside the paper publishing (and related Web publishing) context. --CiaPan (talk) 19:08, 18 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

There doesn't seem to be specific terms for rectangles; "vertical orientation" (tall) or "horizontal orientation" (wide) would do. There might be terms in heraldry -- an exhaustive glossary can be found here (sorry, I don't have the patience to check). 107.15.157.44 (talk) 03:06, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Vertically oriented is the terminology I would use. I agree with 107.15.157.44. Bus stop (talk) 03:14, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

In heraldic terminology, such shapes are "ordinaries". Terms for horizontal bands are bar and fess, while pale denotes a vertical band. I suppose there are restrictions on the use of these terms, like Wiktionary defines fess as: "(heraldry) A horizontal band across the middle of the shield." --Lambiam 04:01, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The above definition describes the default position, which need not be specified in the written blazon: however, a fess could be placed in other (higher or lower) positions, which would then be specified. The same applies to any of the ordinaries and, indeed, other charges, which have default positions and arrangements unless the blazon specifies otherwise.

For example, if a shield is blazoned as being charged with three mullets, say, they would automatically be placed with two above and one below unless the blazon specified one of a variety of possible other arrangements, such as in a vertical line which would be blazoned as "in pale". {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.27.39 (talk) 08:34, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"Portrait" and "landscape" are used in art too, which I presume is where they originate. Iapetus (talk) 10:39, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

What is the difference between portrait mode and landscape mode? Bus stop (talk) 14:11, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@Wardog: I rather suspect "portrait" and "landscape" in art mean the type of depicted theme, not the format of a painting. Usually portraits are painted as 'vertical' images, and landscapes as 'horizontal', so the words changed their meaning and their role when leaving the art domain. They are no longer nouns naming what is on the paper, but rather adjectives, describing a shape of the paper. Anyway, you can paint a face (a portrait) on a wide, 'horizontal' piece of canvas – or just make a photograph, like those at https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-use-a-wide-angle-lens-for-outdoor-portraits/ or multiple other found with https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1536&bih=705&q=wide+portrait&oq=wide+portrait – and you would probably not call those 'landscapes', would you? --CiaPan (talk) 16:26, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, "Landscape" and "portrait" are terms used in art for the subject of the painting/drawing etc. They are also used to describe the orientation of the paper or canvas on which the paining is made. Iapetus (talk) 11:52, 20 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Paining - a charming and perhaps not entirely unintended freudian slip. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 18:17, 21 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"Vertically oriented" and "horizontally oriented" are the terms I would use to describe rectangles oriented in these two different ways. Bus stop (talk) 18:51, 19 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

While those are the more technical terms, I also encounter these things being described as "tall" or "long" rectangles, respectively. --Khajidha (talk) 23:02, 20 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

To me all of the suggested terms sound archaic compared to "vertically-oriented" and "horizontally-oriented". Bus stop (talk) 15:15, 21 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

In heraldry, a rectangle as a mobile charge is a billet. It is palewise (tall) by default, but can be fesswise (wide) or indeed bendwise (oblique) if so described. —Tamfang (talk) 03:07, 22 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Aparently bendwise means high on the left and low on the right (\). Is there a term for the slant the other way (/)? Graeme Bartlett (talk) 06:17, 23 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

A synonym for bendwise (or bendways) is "in bend" (per James Parker, A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry, David & Charles reprint 1970 of 1894 New edition). The term "in bend sinister" is used in five blazons illustrated in Julian Franklyn, Heraldry, A. S, Barnes & Co 1968, which include charges so oriented.

Since the more usual bend (at least in British heraldry) is properly in full a "bend dexter" (per Parker above), a bend with the opposite slant is (and is always called) a "bend sinister". Although I haven't found the term used (perhaps because it seems a little clumsier than "in bend sinister"), anyone with heraldic knowledge would understand "bend sinister-wise." {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.27.39 (talk) 10:30, 24 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

At least some writers use bendwise (sinister) for the orientation of a single charge, versus in bend (sinister) for the arrangement of multiple charges relative to each other. —Tamfang (talk) 03:17, 24 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]