Phrase guide

main diagonal

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The entries of a square matrix from the top left to the bottom right.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: linear-algebra, mathematics, sciences

Examples

  • In a diagonal matrix, non-zero elements appear only in the main diagonal.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: leading diagonal, primary diagonal, major diagonal, good diagonal

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the diagonal of a square matrix running from the upper left entry to the lower right entry

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: principal diagonal

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: diagonal

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: hlavní diagonála — Translations
  • Estonian: peadiagonaal — Translations
  • Finnish: päälävistäjä — Translations
  • French: diagonale principale — Translations
  • Hungarian: főátló — Translations
  • Icelandic: aðalhornalína — Translations
  • Icelandic: meginhornalína — Translations
  • Italian: diagonale principale — Translations
  • Japanese: 主対角 (shutaikaku) — Translations
  • Polish: przekątna główna — Translations
  • Portuguese: diagonal principal — Translations
  • Russian: гла́вная диагона́ль (glávnaja diagonálʹ) — Translations
  • Spanish: diagonal principal — Translations
  • Swedish: huvuddiagonal — Translations