How many sides does a pentagon have?

A pentagon has five sides by definition. The prefix "penta-" comes from Greek, meaning five. In geometry, a pentagon is classified as a polygon that consists of five straight edges and five vertices. This shape can appear in various forms, such as regular pentagons, which have all sides and angles equal, or irregular pentagons, which can have sides and angles of different lengths and measures. Understanding the characteristics of polygons is fundamental in geometry, and knowing that a pentagon specifically has five sides is essential for identifying and differentiating it from other shapes like quadrilaterals and hexagons.