Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SYM'ME-TRY, n. [Gr. συμμετρια; συν, with, together, and μετρον, measure; μετρεω, to measure; Fr. symetrie; It. and Sp. simetria.]

A due proportion of the several parts of a body to each other; adaptation of the dimensions of the several parts of a thing to each other; or the union and conformity of the members of a work to the whole. Symmetry arises from the proportion which the Greeks call analogy, which is the relation of conformity of all the parts to a certain measure; as, the symmetry of a building or an animal body. – Cyc. Uniform symmetry, in architecture, is where the same ordinance reigns throughout the whole. Respective symmetry, is where only the opposite sides are equal to each other. – Cyc.