Definition of "symmetry" [sym•me•try]

• Exact correspondence of form and constituent configuration on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane or about a center or an axis. See Synonyms at proportion. (noun)
• A relationship of characteristic correspondence, equivalence, or identity among constituents of an entity or between different entities: the narrative symmetry of the novel. (noun)
• Beauty as a result of balance or harmonious arrangement. (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.

• ""Faith" in symmetry is not faith when abstract ideas like symmetry lead to explanations of empirical data, lead to new discoveries."
• "When translating from the Greek for the general reader it is best to follow Pliny's (and Vitruvius ') exam - ple and let the term symmetry stand as it does, rather than render it by a locution that, for a scholar, might perhaps better fit the context."
• "It is true that the dic - tionary meaning of the term symmetry has shifted since antiquity, but none of the original connotations has become obsolete, certainly not entirely so."