Jump To:

• chart
  chart

  noun

  a sheet exhibiting information in tabular form.
• chart.
  chart.

  abbreviation

  (in prescriptions) a paper.

chart

¹ American  

[chahrt] / tʃɑrt /

noun

• charts
  plural

1. a sheet exhibiting information in tabular form.

2. a graphic representation, as by curves, of a dependent variable, as temperature, price, etc.; graph.

3. a map, especially a hydrographic or marine map.

4. an outline map showing special conditions or facts.

   a weather chart.

5. Astrology. horoscope.

6. Jazz. a musical arrangement.

7. the charts, ratings of the popularity of popular-music records, usually based on nationwide sales for a given week.

   Their album is number three on the charts this week.

---

verb (used with object)

• charts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• charted,
  past participle,  past
• charting
  present participle

1. to make a chart of.

2. to plan.

   to chart a course of action.

   Synonyms:

   outline, draft

3. Informal. to rank in the charts.

   The new song gets charted number four this week.

idioms

1. off the charts, greatly exceeding the general level or average: Also off the chart

   Demand for the new phone is off the charts.

chart. ² American  

abbreviation

1. (in prescriptions) a paper.

---

chart British  

/ tʃɑːt /

noun

1. a map designed to aid navigation by sea or air

2. an outline map, esp one on which weather information is plotted

3. a sheet giving graphical, tabular, or diagrammatical information

4. another name for graph

5. astrology another word for horoscope

6. informal the lists produced weekly from various sources of the bestselling pop singles and albums or the most popular videos

---

verb

1. (tr) to make a chart of

2. (tr) to make a detailed plan of

3. (tr) to plot or outline the course of

4. (intr) (of a record or video) to appear in the charts (sense 6)

Synonym Usage

See map.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prechart
  verb (used with object)
• rechart
  verb (used with object)
• chartable
  adjective
• precharted
  adjective
• well-charted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• charts
  plural

Participles

• charting
  present
• charted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• chart
  simple
• charts
  simple
• have charted
  perfect
• has charted
  perfect
• am charting
  progressive
• are charting
  progressive
• is charting
  progressive
• have been charting
  perfect progressive
• has been charting
  perfect progressive

Past

• charted
  simple
• had charted
  perfect
• was charting
  progressive
• were charting
  progressive
• had been charting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will chart
  simple
• will have charted
  perfect
• will be charting
  progressive
• will have been charting
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of chart¹

1565–75; from Middle French charte, from Latin c(h)arta; see charta

Origin of chart.²

From the Latin word charta

---

Explanation

Whether it's a kind of graph, a map, or even a piece of music, a chart is a visual display of information. As a verb, chart means to make that kind of display. Some words' meanings grow narrower over the centuries. But in the case of chart, which comes from the French charte and Latin charta, "map," the meanings have grown a lot since the 1500s. Now, chart is a noun meaning any visual index of information, as in "that song is shooting up the charts." It's also still a map, as in "harbor chart." And it's a verb, as in "to chart your progress, make a chart."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chart chart. charts charted charting

Piper Sandler’s Johnson also highlighted that the index’s chart depicts that those who bought tech stocks after the Nasdaq’s breakout to the late-September and early-October record highs got duped.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The Pew Research Center chart below shows how Texas ranks No. 2 among all U.S. states for both the number of operating data centers within its borders and the number of planned facilities.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

The chart above from OpenRouter shows the spending patterns of 120,000 companies—largely AI-native startups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Some unironic astrology: To celebrate Slate’s 30th birthday, Slate writer Heather Schwedel asked several astrologers to interpret the magazine’s birth chart.

From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2026

After the thermometer beeps, the nurse flicks the cone into the wastebasket and writes something on my chart.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

"This is another step again. Off the chart. The most outrageous so far."

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

Latona said, "Please stop calling what happened 'a demise' because it's upsetting her. And also stop asking her the same thing over and over. It's in the chart. Put it in the chart."

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2022

“Paulina did an unbelievable job with the wedding. I really didn’t have to do much. I helped for about half an hour with the seating chart. That was about it. That was my whole contribution.”

From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2022

“She somehow neglected to get all the information in the chart. That’s tragic and I also have great compassion for her humanity.”

From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2020

“I’m counting. Keeping a chart. I’m gonna report them to somebody!”

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper

The last time Coventry won at home in the Premier League former Spice Girl Emma Bunton was top of the charts with 'What Took You So Long?'

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Muse is currently the top app on both the Apple and Google U.S. charts.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

Ms. Li’s novel about the vanity of artistic glory charts John’s youth as he is trained from infancy to be “the next Mozart.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Watching “That Thing You Do!” climbing the charts throughout the movie is a peek into an alien musical world, one that was both more regional and more monocultural than the one we inhabit today.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

The experts had colorful charts on portable easels.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

All 349 “murmurs” in the Twilight saga: In this very scientific investigation, Rachelle Hampton ranked and charted all the times Stephenie Meyer used the word murmur in her YA vampire series.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026

Goldman Sachs strategist on Thursday charted five-year rolling returns on the all-important 10-year Treasury note — pegging it as the worst such period for returns in more than a century.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

And although he doesn't see himself as a trailblazer, he does want to be remembered as someone that charted a course for others after him.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Several of the songs charted, and two became top-10 hits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

They examined fallen stars and charted the constellations every Monday night in the observatory.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

They will be charting the course for a major UN-sponsored global climate summit, known as COP31, to be held in November in Turkey's Antalya province.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

How the singer-turned-congressional candidate Bobby Pulido is charting a path for Democrats in rural and Latino districts.

From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026

Their dataset included 381 survey transects across 38 catchments and 499 rural properties, along with models charting the distributions of 160 bird species and 426 tree species.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

The Americans bought into the package and Zuffa Boxing leaned heavily into his aura, with Dame Helen Mirren narrating a promotional film charting his rise.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

I had to maximize my expectations for myself because no one else would, and I had to have the guts to pursue what I wanted even though it meant charting my own path.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• delineate
• devise
• lay out
• outline
• sketch

---