Definition | A three-dimensional example of the more general polytope in any number of dimensions |
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In geometry, a polyhedron (pl.: polyhedra or polyhedrons; from Greek πολύ (poly-) 'many' and ἕδρον (-hedron) 'base, seat') is a three-dimensional figure with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices.
A convex polyhedron is a polyhedron that bounds a convex set. Every convex polyhedron can be constructed as the convex hull of its vertices, and for every finite set of points, not all on the same plane, the convex hull is a convex polyhedron. Cubes and pyramids are examples of convex polyhedra.
A polyhedron is a generalization of a 2-dimensional polygon and a 3-dimensional specialization of a polytope, a more general concept in any number of dimensions.