Relating to the system of geometry developed by the ancient mathematician Euclid, based on points, lines, and planes that follow his five postulates.
From Euclid (Greek mathematician, 300 BCE) + English suffix '-an' (pertaining to). In the 17th century, 'Euclidean' became the standard term for classical geometry before non-Euclidean geometries were discovered.
For 2,000 years mathematicians thought Euclidean geometry was the ONLY way geometry could work—then in the 1800s, mathematicians invented non-Euclidean geometries where parallel lines meet, and it completely blew everyone's minds and later became essential for Einstein's theory of relativity!
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