A laminate is called an angle-ply laminate if it has layers of the same thickness and material, and are oriented at θ and −θ.

A laminate is called a cross-ply laminate if all the layers have the orientation 0° and 90°.

A laminate is called a balanced laminate when it has pairs of layers of the same thickness and material, and the angles of the layers have opposite signs. Balanced laminates can also have layers at 0° and 90°.

A laminate is called symmetric when the material, angle, and thickness of the layers are the same above and below the midplane.

A laminate is called antisymmetric when the material and thickness of the layers are the same above and below the midplane, but the orientation of the layers have opposite signs above and below the midplane.