Shape

Shape Outline Comparison Chart

Roundround:
2D shape—orbiculate; circular
: Flat and roundround:
2D shape—orbiculate; circular
(discoid) to sphericalspherical:
3D shape—globose
(globose). If notched, then may appear comma-shaped. Includes orbicular, oblate, and lens-shaped (flat and roundround:
2D shape—orbiculate; circular
, with 2 biconvex sides).

Elliptic: widest at the middle, with symmetrically pointed to rounded ends Includes oval and ellipsoidal.

Fusiform: round but elongated, tapering at both ends. Also known as spindleshaped.

Ovate/Obovate: widest at one end. Broader than lanceolate, narrower end rounded to pointed. Includes ovoid, obovoid, conical, and urceoloid.

Lanceolate/Oblanceolate: widest at one end, much longer than wide. Narrower than ovate and more attenuate at the narrow end. Includes lanceoloid, teardropshaped, turbinateturbinate:
3D shape—broadly obovoid-obconic
, pyriform, and flaskshaped.

Linear/Oblong: opposite sides are +/- parallel. Includes linear, oblong, and cylindrical.

Triangulartriangular:
2D shape—three relatively straight sides with distinct corners; more angular than teardrop-shaped
: 3-sided. Includes trigonoustrigonous:
3D shape—having three faces that meet at distinct angles; triangular in outline
, deltoid, cuneate or cuneiform, and wedge-shapedwedge-shaped:
2D shape—triangular and tapering to a point at the base
.

Sector-shaped: 2-flat and 1 curved sides. Sectoroidsectoroid:
3D shape—a wedge-shaped slice taken from an ovoid or globose structure (2D shape, sector-shaped)
if 3-D.

Angular: 4- to 5- shaped. Includes rectangular, quadrangularquadrangular:
2D shape - four-sided, as in a square or rectangle
, squaresquare:
2D shape—geometric figure bounded by 4 straight sides of equal length and 4 90º-angles
, cuboid, pentagonous, polygonalpolygonal:
angular
, and rhomboid.

Star shaped: having distal aspect like stylized shape like a star.

D-shaped+: center depressed or raised slightly to deeply. Includes reniformreniform:
2D or 3D shape—kidney-shaped
, Dshaped, heart-shaped, curved, C-shaped, crescent- shaped, falcate, J-shaped, horseshoe-shaped, and U-shaped.

Knotted: cylindrical or ellipsoid body, swollen and constricted at intervals. Includes torulose and moniliform.

Irregular: spiral, contorted, coiled, didymous, mitiform, cymbiform, panduriform, campanulate, thimbleshaped, and flaskshaped.

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