bilateral symmetry
Left-right body balance
Bilateral symmetry is the property of having two halves that mirror each other across a central axis.
Most animals, including humans, exhibit bilateral symmetry—left and right sides that roughly correspond.
The term appears in biology, design, and art: The butterfly's wings showed perfect bilateral symmetry.
Contrast with radial symmetry, where parts radiate from a center like spokes.
Organism's fundamental structural arrangement
- axisRotation reference line
- vertebratesAnimals with internal skeletons
- invertebratesAnimals without vertebral columns
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
morphology · evolution · embryology · homologous · asymmetry · segmentation · dorsoventral · organisms
Arranged elements forming whole
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
- proportionComparative relation of parts
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
- mirror imageReversed visual duplicate
reflection · diptych · classical sculpture · renaissance · mandala · pattern · motif · visual weight
Rotation reference line
- midlineCentral dividing axis
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- congruentIdentical in form
- equidistantEqually far from each
bisect · proportional · isosceles · centroid · coordinates · perpendicular · transverse · median
Building design discipline
- patternRecurring arrangement or template
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
- layoutSpatial arrangement of elements
- gridFramework of intersecting lines
blueprint · balance · alignment · uniformity · aesthetics · structure · modularity · form
body plan
Organism's fundamental structural arrangement
- axisRotation reference line
- vertebratesAnimals with internal skeletons
- invertebratesAnimals without vertebral columns
phylogeny · morphology · evolution · embryology · homologous · asymmetry · segmentation · dorsoventral · organisms · zoology
composition
Arranged elements forming whole
- balanceSteadiness or amount owed
- proportionComparative relation of parts
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
mirror image · reflection · diptych · classical sculpture · renaissance · mandala · pattern · motif · visual weight · focal point
axis
Rotation reference line
- midlineCentral dividing axis
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- congruentIdentical in form
equidistant · bisect · proportional · isosceles · centroid · coordinates · perpendicular · transverse · median · mirror image
architecture
Building design discipline
- patternRecurring arrangement or template
- compositionArranged elements forming whole
- layoutSpatial arrangement of elements
grid · blueprint · balance · alignment · uniformity · aesthetics · structure · modularity · form · template
butterfly
Winged insect from caterpillar
flower · insect · shell · feather · petal · wing · human body · animal · beetle · moth
- bi- wordsbiannual, biathlon, bicameral, bicentennial, bicycle
- compositionbalance, asymmetry, proportion, layout, arrangement
- flower traitspetals, nectar, pollen, anthers, stigma
- nature patternsspiral, fractal, honeycomb, branching, tessellation
- symmetrymirror image, threefold, fourfold, sixfold, asymmetry
- symmetry typesmirror image, reflection
bilateral symmetryasymmetry
Absence of balanced form
amorphous · asymmetrical · asymmetric · irregular · disordered
symmetry, bilateral, unilateral, multilateral, bilaterally, bilateralism