Trapeze

TRAPEZE, or TRAPESE, a form of swing, consisting of a crossbar suspended by ropes and used for gymnastic exercises, acrobatic displays and the like. The name was so applied in French (trapeze) from the resemblance of the apparatus to a " trapezium " or irregular four-sided figure. The Greek rpairtf tew is a diminutive of rpcbrefa, a table, literally a four-footed or four-legged object, being a shortened form of rerpawe^ a (rtrpo.-, four, and irefa, foot).