diagram
Americannoun
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a figure, usually consisting of a line drawing, made to accompany and illustrate a geometrical theorem, mathematical demonstration, etc.
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a drawing or plan that outlines and explains the parts, operation, etc., of something.
a diagram of an engine.
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a chart, plan, or scheme.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a sketch, outline, or plan demonstrating the form or workings of something
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maths a pictorial representation of a quantity or of a relationship
a Venn diagram
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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diagrammableadjective
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diagrammaticadjective
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misdiagrammedadjective
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undiagramedadjective
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undiagrammedadjective
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diagrammaticallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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diagramsimple
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diagramssimple
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have diagramedperfect
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have diagrammedperfect
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has diagramedperfect
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has diagrammedperfect
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am diagramingprogressive
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am diagrammingprogressive
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are diagramingprogressive
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are diagrammingprogressive
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is diagramingprogressive
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is diagrammingprogressive
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have been diagramingperfect progressive
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have been diagrammingperfect progressive
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has been diagramingperfect progressive
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has been diagrammingperfect progressive
Past
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diagramedsimple
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diagrammedsimple
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had diagramedperfect
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had diagrammedperfect
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was diagramingprogressive
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was diagrammingprogressive
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were diagramingprogressive
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were diagrammingprogressive
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had been diagramingperfect progressive
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had been diagrammingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of diagram
1610–20; < Latin diagramma < Greek: that which is marked out by lines. See dia-, -gram 1
Explanation
A diagram is a drawing that shows the different parts of something and how they work together. If you follow a diagram for assembling bunk beds and finish with parts left over, you should ask for the top bunk, not the bottom one. Diagram goes back to the Greek verb diagraphein, meaning "to mark out by lines," and a diagram uses line drawings to explain something. Electronic equipment comes with a long instruction booklet and a one-page diagram, and it's usually the diagram that helps most in connecting the device. A diagram can also be a complex drawing, like an engineering plan for airplanes. When you make a line drawing of your own, you can use diagram as a verb, as when you diagram a sentence.
Vocabulary lists containing diagram
Write On!: Graph and Gram
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Word Generation Science - Scientific Thinking
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It is one thing to make a schematic diagram of social categories, and another thing to confront examples of them in the flesh; that is the tension that runs through “People.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
One of the best known examples of organized patterning is the Voronoi diagram, a geometric system that divides space into separate regions around central points.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
The diagram shows the basis of the 18% figure, as well as one showing 46% chunk of jobs will see less immediate change:
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 17, 2026
“I discovered puppetry around the same time, because it’s sort of the center of that Venn diagram of crafts, fine arts, engineering and acting,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
He fiddles with a dial and flips some switches, pokes the pointers down into the guts of the controller, looks at the scope, looks at the diagram, frowns, and then touches something else.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
No need to untangle the complex hypocrisy here — it’s all laid out in arrows and diagrams.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
"Voronoi diagrams have been used for centuries in a variety of applications ranging from city planning to network design," Navlakha says.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
The Journal visualized the scene with 3-D modeling software using diagrams from vehicle manufacturers, open-source mapping data, crime-scene photos, court documents and interviews with firearms experts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Online lectures also pose difficulties, as many instructors explain concepts using visual notes, diagrams and graphics on screen, which cannot be followed through audio alone.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025
Many bear Mr. Barris’s stamps and initials, but there are other diagrams written in different hands that Chandresh does not recognize.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
They’ve been so good that offenses have diagramed plans around them, assigning double-teams and going above and beyond to neutralize them.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
The 15-1 vote favors the “North of C-ID” option, just diagramed this winter, underground near the corner of Fourth Avenue and James Street.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
Watch Purdy take the snap, forget what’s supposed to happen or how a play was diagramed, keep your eyes on the overachieving quarterback, and just hold your breath.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2023
He was a coach with few rules, but players competed hard for him because he managed relationships as well as he diagramed plays.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 29, 2021
“We haven’t diagramed a single sentence all year. I’m getting worried about the College Boards.”
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
They diagrammed it for their BP sponsors as a big triangle beneath the rising line of future carbon emissions, what Socolow recalls describing as a “wedge,” cut up into equal-sized slices.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
Forget the stodgy days of X’s and O’s diagrammed in the playbook.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
You already have diagrammed some of the Mark Twain excerpt and know how plots move along.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
Such diagrammed books are preferable for learning, Pandolfini said.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2021
The Stephanides family tree, diagrammed in Dr. Luce’s “Autosomal Transmission of Recessive Traits,” goes into more detail than I think you would care to know about.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Schmedding won’t be the only one diagraming plans to slow down that offense.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
Willis said he’s had no problem diagraming plays — whether it be Liberty’s offense or the plays taught to him during the session.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 2, 2022
I do a lot of diagraming stuff before I ever sit down with a computer.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2020
Lunenfeld writes that an “alchemical map of a Los Angeles reimagined transmutes the elements, diagraming a connectionist platzgeist.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2020
Oh, I see," Cleo replied, somewhat satisfied at the diagraming, "and our vacation out at Bellaire is to be a cross between a wedding and a trip to Europe.
From The Girl Scouts at Bellaire Or Maid Mary's Awakening by Garis, Lilian
On the upside, kids no longer have to spend hours of their wild and precious lives diagramming sentences.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2025
It’s much more than an exercise in diagramming a sentence.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2023
Unfortunately, while Cranston is painting in oils, his playwright is diagramming in stick figures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2022
This method of plot diagramming also helps you identify where holes may turn up in your plan.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
In Mrs. Baker’s class, we drilled on sentence diagramming.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
