Definition of "metacentric" []

• Of or relating to a metacenter. (adjective)
• Genetics Having the centromere in the median position so that the arms are of equal length. Used of a chromosome. (adjective)
• A metacentric chromosome. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A V-shaped metacentric chromosome has two arms: 10 metacentric chromosomes would have a total of 20 arms."
• "The curve may be constructed in the following manner: Having found by calculation the position of the transverse metacenter, M, for a given displacement -- Figs. 1 and 2 -- the metacentric height, G M, is then determined either by calculations, or more correctly by experiment, by varying the position of weights of known magnitude, or by the stability indicator itself."
• "Having obtained the metacentric height, reference to a diagram will at once show the whole range of stability; and this being ascertained at each loading, the stowage of the cargo can be so adjusted as to avoid excessive stiffness in the one hand and dangerous tenderness on the other."