Jump To:

• mosaic
  mosaic

  noun

  a picture or decoration made of small, usually colored pieces of inlaid stone, glass, etc.
• Mosaic
  Mosaic

  adjective

  of or relating to Moses or the writings, laws, and principles attributed to him.

mosaic

¹ American  

[moh-zay-ik] / moʊˈzeɪ ɪk /

noun

• mosaics
  plural

1. a picture or decoration made of small, usually colored pieces of inlaid stone, glass, etc.

2. the process of producing such a picture or decoration.

3. something resembling such a picture or decoration in composition, especially in being made up of diverse elements.

   a mosaic of borrowed ideas.

4. Also called photomosaic, aerial mosaic. Surveying. an assembly of aerial photographs matched in such a way as to show a continuous photographic representation of an area mosaic map.

5. Architecture. (in an architectural plan) a system of patterns for differentiating the areas of a building or the like, sometimes consisting of purely arbitrary patterns used to separate areas according to function but often consisting of plans of flooring, reflected ceiling plans, overhead views of furnishings and equipment, or other items really included in the building or building plan.

6. Also called mosaic disease. Plant Pathology. any of several diseases of plants, characterized by mottled green or green and yellow areas on the leaves, caused by certain viruses.

7. Biology. an organism exhibiting mosaicism.

8. Television. a light-sensitive surface in a television camera tube, consisting of a thin mica sheet coated on one side with a large number of small globules of silver and cesium insulated from each other. The image to be televised is focused on this surface and the resulting charges on the globules are scanned by an electron beam.

---

adjective

1. pertaining to, resembling, or used for making a mosaic or mosaic work.

   a mosaic tile.

2. composed of a combination of diverse elements.

verb (used with object)

mosaicked, mosaicking

1. to make a mosaic of or from.

2. to decorate with mosaic.

Mosaic ² American  

[moh-zay-ik] / moʊˈzeɪ ɪk /

Sometimes Mosaical

adjective

1. of or relating to Moses or the writings, laws, and principles attributed to him.

   Mosaic ethics.

---

Mosaic ¹ British  

/ məʊˈzeɪɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to Moses or the laws and traditions ascribed to him

---

mosaic ² British  

/ məˈzeɪɪk /

noun

1. a design or decoration made up of small pieces of coloured glass, stone, etc

2. the process of making a mosaic

3. 1. a mottled yellowing that occurs in the leaves of plants affected with any of various virus diseases

   2. Also called: mosaic disease. any of the diseases, such as tobacco mosaic , that produce this discoloration

4. genetics another name for chimera

5. an assembly of aerial photographs forming a composite picture of a large area on the ground

6. a light-sensitive surface on a television camera tube, consisting of a large number of granules of photoemissive material deposited on an insulating medium

---

mosaic Scientific  

/ mō-zā′ĭk /

1. Any of various viral diseases of plants, resulting in light and dark areas in the leaves, which often become shriveled and dwarfed.

---

mosaic Cultural  

1. A picture or design made from small pieces of colored tile, glass, or other material set in mortar. Mosaics have been widely used in Christian churches to decorate walls and ceilings.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mosaicist
  noun
• post-Mosaic
  adjective
• premosaic
  adjective
• mosaically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mosaics
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of mosaic¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French mosaïque, from Italian mosaico, from Medieval Latin musaicum, re-formation of Late Latin musīvum (opus), Latin musēum, musaeum “mosaic work,” of obscure origin; variants may show an assumed relationship with Greek mouseîon “shrine of the Muses, museum” by analogy with archī(v)um “archive” though classical Greek word is not attested in the sense “mosaic”; see museum, archive

Origin of Mosaic²

1655–65; < New Latin Mosaicus, equivalent to Late Latin Mōs ( ēs ) Moses + -aicus, on the model of Hebraicus Hebraic

---

Explanation

If you’ve ever seen a piece of artwork where the picture is comprised of little clay tiles, then you’ve seen a mosaic. If you break a nice piece of china, or a stain glass window, you could save the broken pieces for future use in a mosaic. A mosaic is a style of art where a larger image is created by arranging bits of clay, glass, or other materials in a pattern. More broadly, you can use this word to describe anything that is made up of many different elements, such as “the diverse group represented a mosaic of different viewpoints.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mosaic Mosaic mosaics mosaicked

During the episode, bakers made American-style cookies, recreated iced gems and created a "visually striking" biscuit mosaic.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

When it came to the kids in Doug’s class, Bonilla wanted to reflect the multicultural mosaic that is the Los Angeles Unified School District.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

There it unfolds—with graceful and terrible inevitability—into a mosaic of abandonment and love, fanaticism and terror.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The former hospital is a heap of rubble and the uranium miner glorified on a huge Soviet mosaic has lost half his face.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

Called the Sanctuary of the Fortune of the First Born, the walls were decorated with a mosaic that depicted the Egyptian landscape along the Nile.

From "Sterling Biographies®: Cleopatra: Egypt's Last and Greatest Queen" by Susan Blackaby

Arts for LA CEO Gustavo Herrera presented Mosaic LA, a community-led initiative intended to coordinate neighborhood cultural programming and sustain investment beyond 2028.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

If China removes export restrictions, which could happen before Xi and Trump meet, fertilizer producers like Mosaic and Nutrien could see conditions improve.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

Seen by many as a rising star, she had written for many publications, including Buzzfeed, Private Eye, the Atlantic and Mosaic Science.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

A reopening could actually help Mosaic by easing the input-cost pressure.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

So I went down and spoke to Doerr and Jim Clark, and I began using the beta version of the Mosaic browser.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

“You can hear that these buildings carry the echoes of the lives they contained because of the frescoes, the mosaics, the furniture. You feel 2,000 years compress and collapse. It’s like magic.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

For example, their 2013 “Tailored Mosaic” line, inspired by the golden mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale in Sicily, featured garments adorned with angels, saints and Mary, as well as biblical figures.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

Architectural landmarks and art, including mosaics, frescoes and sculptures, have been rapidly demolished.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

At the latter, now called the Kariye Mosque, Muslim worshipers kneeling on the carpeted floor and praying toward Mecca are flanked by 14th-century mosaics of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

Geometric and psychedelic shapes, mosaics, and mandalas...There is a calm in the chaos that most folks don’t see.

From "Monday's Not Coming" by Tiffany D. Jackson

In the years since, the images have been mosaicked together, allowing scientists to zoom across Venus’s surface like someone panning through Google Earth and examine old data in new ways.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2023

A patch of sidewalk embedded with the mosaicked words “Bon-Ton Café” marks the spot of what was, a century ago, Jackson’s toniest restaurant.

From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2022

I could see their mosaicked little faces gliding through the wave as I paddled hard into the pocket, felt the familiar lift, and pounced to my feet.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 30, 2020

Dennistoun says that this study contained "arm-chairs encircling a table all mosaicked with tarsia, and carved by Maestro Giacomo of Florence," but it is now quite bare, though, fortunately, the tarsie are well preserved.

From Intarsia and Marquetry by F. Hamilton (Frederick Hamilton) Jackson

The dome- like roof of this hall was of marble variously colored, and the floor tessellated and mosaicked in grotesque and graceful figures of Vesuvian lavas and painted porcelain.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 09, July, 1858 by Various

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• patchwork

---