Latin is where we can establish the etymological origin of the term oblong that concerns us now. Specifically, it derives from the adjective “oblongus”, which can be translated as “elongated” and which is the result of the sum of these lexical components:
-The prefix “ob-”, which means “against” or “in front”.
-The adjective “longus”, which is equivalent to “long”.
Oblong is an adjective that describes something that is less wide than long .
The oblong, therefore, has greater length than width . The concept can also be used to refer to what is longer than common elements of the same type or class . For example: “This plant is characterized by its oblong leaves,” “The suspect left the house carrying an oblong case with him,” “From the shore they saw a creature with an oblong body that they were unable to recognize.”
Among the words that can function as synonyms for oblong we find some such as elliptical, parabolic, oval, prolonged and even oval.
The upper sector in humans, or anterior in other species, of the spinal cord is known as the medulla oblongata . It should be noted that the spinal cord begins in the foramen occipital and extends to the lumbar region, being an extension of the brain (the set of organs found inside the skull and that make up the nervous system).
In the field of mathematics , the number that is the result of the multiplication of two consecutive natural numbers is called an oblong , pronic or rectangular number. Therefore, if n is a natural number:
Oblong number = n. (n+1)
12 is an oblong number: if we multiply 3 by 4 , we will get 12 as a result. 3 and 4 are consecutive natural numbers , so the rule mentioned above is fulfilled. Another oblong number is 90 because 9 x 10 = 90 .
“The Oblong Box” , finally, is a story written by the American Edgar Allan Poe . The story revolves around a man who embarks on a ship transporting, as the title of the work anticipates, a mysterious oblong box.
In 1844, the aforementioned writer of the horror genre published this story, which revolves around the mystery of what that passenger hides in said box. A mystery that will be solved and will be terrifying, as will other secrets that the individual, a certain Cornelius Wyatt, had decided to hide from the rest of the crew will come to light.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that there is also a film of British origin that is also titled “The Oblong Box.” It was directed by Gordon Hessler, premiered in 1969 and stars actors such as Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Alister Williamson.
It falls within the horror genre and takes as its protagonist Sir Edward, a man who suffers a spectacular accident that disfigures his face. His brother, faced with this circumstance, decides to lock him in one of the towers of the family mansion, but he manages to escape and, as revenge, begins to commit crimes that will have the entire city scared.