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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

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.