Golden mean

golden mean

[‚gōld·ən ′mēn]

(mathematics)

golden section

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Golden mean

A proportional relationship devised by the Greeks that expresses the ideal relationship of unequal parts. It is obtained by dividing a line so that the shorter part is to the longer part as the longer part is to the whole line. It can be stated thus: a is to b as b is to a+ b. If we assign the value of 1 to a, and solve as a quadratic equation, then b = 1.618034. Therefore, the golden mean is 1:1.618.

Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

golden mean

or section a proportion between the length and width of a rectangle or two portions of a line, said to be ideal. [Fine Arts: Misc.]

See: Perfection

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.