frame of reference

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noun, plural frames of reference.

a structure of concepts, values, customs, views, etc., by means of which an individual or group perceives or evaluates data, communicates ideas, and regulates behavior.

Also called reference frame. Physics. a framework that is used for the observation and mathematical description of physical phenomena and the formulation of physical laws, usually consisting of an observer, a coordinate system, and a clock or clocks assigning times at positions with respect to the coordinate system.

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Origin of frame of reference

First recorded in 1895–1900

Words nearby frame of reference

frame, frame aerial, frame house, frame line, frame of mind, frame of reference, framepack, frame saw, frameshift, frameshift mutation, frame story

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use frame of reference in a sentence

In 2011 LGBT media outlet Queerty took the app to task for allegedly deleting accounts that made reference to being trans.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He then provides some insight into his psyche - complete with Animal House reference.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The media tend to frame situations like this as aberrations, but in this case, quite the opposite is the truth.
Today’s GOP: Still Cool With Racist Pandering?|Michael Tomasky|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There is reference after reference to the “black community,” “black worth ethic,” and adherence to the “black value system.”
Reverend Jeremiah Wright Was Worse Than Scalise|Ron Christie|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The Dallas Cowboys sell out their state-of-the art football stadium.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She looked so sweet when she said it, standing and smiling there in the middle of the floor, the door-way making a frame for her.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
There was a slight shuddering movement of his whole frame—Bob was dead.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
These Eskimos were very fond of kite-flying, for its own sake, without reference to utility!
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
The scarlet calico canopy was again set up over the bed, and the woven cradle, on its red manzanita frame, stood near.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Old Warrender retired to his study in a rather excited frame of mind, excusing himself on the ground of his age.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills

British Dictionary definitions for frame of reference

frame of reference

noun

a set of basic assumptions or standards that determines and sanctions behaviour

any set of planes or curves, such as the three coordinate axes, used to locate or measure movement of a point in space

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for frame of reference

frame of reference

[ frām ]

See reference frame.

frame of reference

Origin of frame of reference

Words nearby frame of reference

Words related to frame of reference

How to use frame of reference in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for frame of reference

Scientific definitions for frame of reference