Vertices, edges, and faces are the basic building blocks of the 3D mesh objects. A vertex is a point in space. The plural of vertex is vertices, pronounced (ver-tuh-seas), and is used when talking about two or more points in space. You describe a point by the X, Y, and Z coordinates, as we discussed in Chapter 2, Getting Comfortable using the 3D View. An edge is a line between two vertices. A face is the flat area or plane between three or four vertices, outlined by edges that connect between those vertices, as shown here. It is also referred to as a polygon. The following graphic shows them all together:

In the next illustration, I will show the default cube, so that you can see how the vertices, edges, and faces are used in a solid object. For illustration purposes, I went into User Preferences, and made the vertex and the dot in the center of the face display as large as possible.

On the left-hand side of the image, you can see the vertices and...