definitions

reference frame

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR reference frame ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Physics.

frame of reference(def 2).

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RELATED WORDS

context, framework, standpoint

Nearby words

refer, referee, reference, reference book, reference electrode, reference frame, reference group, reference mark, reference values, reference works, referendum

Origin of reference frame

First recorded in 1920–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Science definitions for reference frame

reference frame

[ rĕf′ər-əns ]

A basis of a four-dimensional coordinate system in which the first coordinate is understood as a time coordinate, while the other three coordinates represent spatial dimensions. Inertial frames and non-inertial frames are both examples of reference frames. Also called frame of reference See also General Relativity space-time Special Relativity.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.