vertical

Alternative forms

• vertic (poetical)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French vertical, from Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜː.tɪ.kəl/
• (US) enPR: vûr'tĭkəl, IPA^(key): /ˈvɝ.tɪ.kəl/, /ˈvɝ.tə.kəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tɪkəl

Adjective

vertical (comparative more vertical, superlative most vertical)

1. Standing, pointing, or moving straight up or down; parallel to the local direction of gravity; along the direction of a plumb line; perpendicular to something horizontal.

   vertical lines

   • 2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 72:

     The Zebra moray is chocolate black with vertical white stripes.

2. In a two-dimensional Cartesian co-ordinate system, describing the axis y oriented normal (perpendicular, at right angles) to the horizontal axis x.
3. In a three-dimensional co-ordinate system, describing the axis z oriented normal (perpendicular, orthogonal) to the basic plane xy.
4. (marketing) Of or pertaining to vertical markets.
5. (wine tasting) Involving different vintages of the same wine type from the same winery.
6. (music) Of an interval: having the two notes sound simultaneously.

   Synonym: harmonic

   Antonym: horizontal

Noun

vertical (plural verticals)

1. A vertex or zenith.
2. A vertical geometrical figure; a perpendicular.
3. An individual slat in a set of vertical blinds.
4. A vertical component of a structure.
5. (marketing) A vertical market.

   We offer specialised accounting software targeting various verticals.

   • 2010 July 5, Joseph Tartakoff, “What search verticals will Google target next?”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     As Barclay Capital's Douglas Anmuth wrote in a report on Friday morning, Google's "core search growth" is slowing, so there may now be a "greater urgency in pursuing specific verticals". So, what other specialised areas could Google target?

6. (politics) A command structure for exertion of political power.
   • 2024 August 19, Christina Harward, Nicole Wolkov, Grace Mappes, Davit Gasparyan, Karolina Hird, George Barros, “Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 19, 2024”, in Ukraine Project, The Institute for the Study of War:

     Russian opposition outlet Vazhnye Istorii reported on August 19 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's reaction to the "Kursk situation" has exposed certain shifts within the Kremlin's power vertical, many of which have been underway over the last several months ... Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov noted that the FSB has generally shifted its mandate away from controlling Russian oligarchs and towards controlling Russia’s military and Russia’s military-industrial complex as well as countering "saboteurs and terrorists," and Vazhnye Istorii reported that several long-time Russian economic oligarchs are also gradually losing their influence within the Kremlin's wider power vertical ... ISW has reported at length on Putin's efforts to maintain a core cadre of loyal siloviki (Russian strongmen with political influence) within the Russian power vertical, particularly since the risks to Putin's regime first introduced by the Wagner Group's armed rebellion in June 2023.

Further reading

• “vertical”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Etymology

From Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɾtiˈkal/ [beɾ.t̪iˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ver‧ti‧cal

Adjective

vertical (epicene, plural verticales)

1. vertical

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [bər.tiˈkal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [vər.tiˈkal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [veɾ.tiˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ver‧ti‧cal

Adjective

vertical m or f (masculine and feminine plural verticals)

1. vertical

   Antonym: horitzontal

Etymology

From Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛʁ.ti.kal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ver‧ti‧cal
• Homophones: verticale, verticales

Adjective

vertical (feminine verticale, masculine plural verticaux, feminine plural verticales)

1. vertical

Further reading

• “vertical”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology

From Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɾtiˈkal/ [beɾ.t̪iˈkɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ver‧ti‧cal

Adjective

vertical m or f (plural verticais)

1. vertical

   Antonym: horizontal

Etymology

From Late Latin verticālis.

Adjective

vertical m (feminine singular verticala, masculine plural verticai, feminine plural verticales)

1. vertical

Etymology

From Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɛrtiˈkal/

Adjective

vertical

1. vertical

Etymology

From Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: ver‧ti‧cal

Adjective

vertical m or f (plural verticais, not comparable)

1. vertical

   Antonym: horizontal

Alternative forms

• вертикал (vertical) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Borrowed from French vertical.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vertiˈkal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: ver‧ti‧cal

Adjective

vertical m or n (feminine singular verticală, masculine plural verticali, feminine and neuter plural verticale)

1. vertical

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin verticālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɾtiˈkal/ [beɾ.t̪iˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ver‧ti‧cal

Adjective

vertical m or f (masculine and feminine plural verticales)

1. vertical
2. portrait (a print orientation where the vertical sides are longer than the horizontal sides.; in smartphones)

Further reading

• “vertical”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10