A three-dimensional geometric shape formed by two parallel polygon bases connected by triangular faces, like a square antiprism with two square bases.
From anti- (opposite) + prism (a geometric solid with parallel bases). Named by geometers because it inverts the arrangement of a traditional prism—where a prism has rectangular side faces, an antiprism has triangular ones. Term standardized in 19th-century geometry.
Antiprisms are one of the most beautiful discoveries in geometry because they show that you can connect two parallel polygons in completely different ways—and chemists actually use antiprism structures to understand how molecules bond and arrange themselves in 3D space!
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