Definition:Latus Rectum/Circle

Definition

The circle, being a degenerate ellipse whose foci coincide, properly has no latus rectum, as a circle has neither a directrix nor a major axis.

However, there is a case to make that, in a sense, a diameter of a circle $C$ can be considered as a latus rectum of $C$.

Also see

• Results about the latus rectum of a circle can be found here.

Linguistic Note

The term latus rectum is a compound of the Latin:

latus, meaning side

rectum, meaning straight or right, as in straight line or right angle.

Hence it literally means right side or straight side.

Its plural is latera recta.

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