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
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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
-
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:
Guests will also receive a zine-style pamphlet with the same homespun appeal explaining each of the eight sections in RM’s words alongside a diagram of the room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
The FBI briefed the Met officers to question Bayoumi about the other high-priority exhibits, but the detectives in the custody suite were never given, or briefed about, the plane diagram.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
But the Venn diagram of people who will love Niles the crocodile and those who care what shoes Pete Davidson wears isn’t a circle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The book includes numerous photos of the Gadget in its final form, as well as a diagram of what scientists thought the mushroom cloud would look like.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Dick said it was the hired man’s house; he knew because of the diagram.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
“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
"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
In “The Sheep Detectives,” the woolly ungulates themselves set about solving a heinous crime: gathering evidence, bringing it to light, and even drawing diagrams to point dimwitted humans in the right direction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
I shall generally use diagrams in which time increases upward and one of the spatial dimensions is shown horizontally.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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
But like the three brothers, these secondary figures are sociological composites, inserted into a carefully diagramed, ultimately incoherent narrative scheme.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
“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
Today’s diagrammed position comes from an 1898 game between two of the strongest players of the day — Russia’s Mikhail Chigorin and Germany’s Siegbert Tarrasch.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
Forget the stodgy days of X’s and O’s diagrammed in the playbook.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
He had diagrammed the wiring and the plumbing.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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
It sits in an area that is dimly lit and very narrow and has a corporate-looking whiteboard parked in one corner, maybe in the event that something needs diagraming.
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2015
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
This method of plot diagramming also helps you identify where holes may turn up in your plan.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
As everyone got ready to leave for Temple Beth-El or Saint Adelbert’s, I figured I’d probably be diagramming sentences for the next hour and a half, since we hadn’t started another Shakespeare play yet.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
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