square the circle
verb1
Geometry, Mathematics, Sciences To construct a square with the same area as a given circle by using only a finite number of steps with compass and straightedge, a task which is mathematically impossible.
- The problem of squaring the circle is the problem of determining the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter, which is called π.1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.24:
2
Figuratively To solve a famously difficult or impossible problem.
- Related terms
- morbus cyclometricus, squircle, square peg in a round hole