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.
-
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)
noun
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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
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.
It’s unclear what the Venn Diagram overlap is for Swifties and Marvel fans but one thing is apparent: United, they’re a powerful bunch.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2024
“The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter” is a classic of 1980s kung-fu cinema, with Gordon Liu playing a martial arts student who learns a special pole-fighting technique while on a mission of revenge.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2022
Diagram one of them and it’s likely: Noun, verb, adjective.
From Washington Post • Aug. 27, 2020
Each point represents a single cell. f, Diagram summarizing the observations made in the study and their relationship to the onset of zygotic POU5F1 expression.
From Nature • Sep. 19, 2017
I’d worn my Chuck Taylors and my Ceci n 'estpas une pipe shirt, the exact outfit I’d been wearing two weeks before on the Late Afternoon of the Venn Diagram, and he wouldn’t see it.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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.
