四よ次じ元げん

also: しじげん

よ

じ

げ

ん

Meanings

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

fourth dimension; four dimensions; 4D

Refers to the concept of a fourth spatial dimension in mathematics, physics, or science fiction. Often used attributively with の to describe something as four-dimensional.

四よ次じ元げんの世せ界かいを想そう像ぞうするのは難むずかしい。
It's difficult to imagine a four-dimensional world.
この映えい画がは四よ次じ元げん空くう間かんをテーマにしている。
This movie is themed around four-dimensional space.

See all 8 example sentences ›

Kanji

四four
次next, order, sequence
元beginning, former time, origin

Related words

三さん次じ元げん
三次元 means 'three dimensions' or '3D', the ordinary spatial dimensions we experience. 四次元 adds an extra dimension, often used in theoretical or fictional contexts.
次じ元げん
次元 means 'dimension' in general. 四次元 specifies the number of dimensions as four.

Word family

四よ次じ元げんポケット
4D pocket; magical pocket that can hold any item
四よ次じ元げん超ちょう立りっ方ぽう体たい
tesseract; four-dimensional hypercube

Written forms

四次元
- よじげん
  Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
- しじげん
  Alternate reading しじげん; less common than よじげん.
４次元
- よじげん
  Numerical variant using Arabic numeral 4; seen in technical or informal contexts.
- しじげん
  Numerical variant with the rare reading しじげん.
しじげん

Etymology

Compound of 四 (four) and 次元 (dimension). The reading よじげん uses the native Japanese reading for 四, while しじげん uses the Sino-Japanese reading; よじげん is more common in modern usage.