reference frame

noun Physics.

Origin of reference frame

First recorded in 1920–25

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

reference frame in Science

[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.