diagram
Americannoun
-
diagrams
plural
-
a figure, usually consisting of a line drawing, made to accompany and illustrate a geometrical theorem, mathematical demonstration, etc.
-
a drawing or plan that outlines and explains the parts, operation, etc., of something.
a diagram of an engine.
-
a chart, plan, or scheme.
verb (used with object)
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diagrams,
present (3rd person singular)
-
diagramed,
past participle, past
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diagrammed,
past participle, past
-
diagraming,
present participle
-
diagramming
present participle
noun
-
a sketch, outline, or plan demonstrating the form or workings of something
-
maths a pictorial representation of a quantity or of a relationship
a Venn diagram
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
diagrammableadjective
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diagrammaticadjective
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misdiagrammedadjective
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undiagramedadjective
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undiagrammedadjective
-
diagrammaticallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
diagramsimple
-
diagramssimple
-
have diagramedperfect
-
have diagrammedperfect
-
has diagramedperfect
-
has diagrammedperfect
-
am diagramingprogressive
-
am diagrammingprogressive
-
are diagramingprogressive
-
are diagrammingprogressive
-
is diagramingprogressive
-
is diagrammingprogressive
-
have been diagramingperfect progressive
-
have been diagrammingperfect progressive
-
has been diagramingperfect progressive
-
has been diagrammingperfect progressive
Past
-
diagramedsimple
-
diagrammedsimple
-
had diagramedperfect
-
had diagrammedperfect
-
was diagramingprogressive
-
was diagrammingprogressive
-
were diagramingprogressive
-
were diagrammingprogressive
-
had been diagramingperfect progressive
-
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:
The notes include a diagram showing where the objects are lodged in his body.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
To me, it seemed Paul found love at the center of a Venn diagram, with someone who didn’t mind when Paul wanted to spend time at the other end of his individual circle.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Contrary to popular legend, the diagram was not sketched on a napkin by Walt Disney himself, but rather by a Disney studio artist who created it for the story.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The team also mapped out how these exotic states form, revealing a precise structure in the system's topological phase diagram.
From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026
Treebaun changed the screen to a diagram of Ford’s Theatre and did a quick overview of all the ways the top balcony could have been accessed before turning on my repercussion track.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
“Turns out we just have some paperwork to do and some diagrams but as everybody knows, I’m looking to move so I can be more educational and help more animals,” Blair wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
No need to untangle the complex hypocrisy here — it’s all laid out in arrows and diagrams.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
Alongside the 2004 guidance sit two diagrams demonstrating the overhead and outward reach of an average older woman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Over time, published diagrams came close to showing the true shape of the optic nerves but never captured it fully.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2025
But it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people’s faces move very quickly.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
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
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
Montefiore helps out with diagramed family trees and a cast of characters before each section of the book.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 10, 2016
“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
The shift in attitude hasn’t been firmly diagrammed; instead, what’s going on here is mostly subconscious, like a collective unlocking of forbidden territory.
From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2026
Later in the second, WSU diagrammed a rollout pass for Ward, whose receiver made Arbuckle look like a genius this time.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 21, 2023
You already have diagrammed some of the Mark Twain excerpt and know how plots move along.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 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
When one of his gently unfolding pastoral melodies takes a turn into dissonant thickets, it can sound as if Ives is diagraming the American landscape — geographically and psychologically.
From New York Times ● May 21, 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 Lilian Garis
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
He moved beside me on the couch holding a clipboard, and with shaky hands started diagramming essential aspects of his theory that would benefit a case as ostentatious as my own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
Breaking through creative roadblocks can be challenging, but Isaac and Karen trade tricks, such as diagramming passages of your favorite writing and inventing weird rules to find a voice that fits your work.
From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2022
When Mrs. Baker asked if I'd like to partner with Meryl Lee on the sentence diagramming exercise in the afternoon, I told her I'd rather do it with Doug Swieteck.
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.
