SINCE 1828
tessellation
noun
tes·sel·la·tion
| \ ˌte-sə-ˈlā-shən
\
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Definition of tessellation
1a
: mosaic
b
: a covering of an infinite geometric plane without gaps or overlaps by congruent plane figures of one type or a few types
2
: an act of tessellating : the state of being tessellated
Examples of tessellation in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Park’s entry was inspired by origami tessellations. — Emily Matchar, Smithsonian, "These Wild Sculptures Could Bring Sustainable Energy to the Desert," 10 Sep. 2019 Good Sets In his proof, Rao first showed that there are only a finite number of scenarios for how the corners of convex pentagons can fit together that need to be checked for tessellations. — Quanta Magazine, "Pentagon Tiling Proof Solves Century-Old Math Problem," 11 July 2017 The pattern of creases forms a tessellation of parallelograms, and the whole structure collapses and unfolds in a single motion — providing an elegant way to fold a map. — Quanta Magazine, "The Atomic Theory of Origami," 31 Oct. 2017 There are some detours into more traditional figural studies, including a series of swans that can be seen as a kind of precursor to M.C. Escher’s tessellations. — Jeffrey Bauman, ELLE Decor, "See This Record-Breaking Guggenheim Exhibit Before It’s Gone," 18 Apr. 2019 As the designer odyssey moves from New York to Paris, patterns are palpable—another baby bang here, another sprinkling of glitter there—until finally, everything materializes into one divine, season-defining tessellation. — Vogue, "The Best Street Style Beauty Looks From the Spring 2019 Shows," 4 Oct. 2018 The Infinity Puzzle, as it's called, uses concepts like tessellation and Klein bottles to create a puzzle with no sides or corners. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "This Math-Inspired Jigsaw Puzzle Goes On Forever," 23 Nov. 2016 Its sky is full of gantry cranes, stacking 20-foot-long shipping containers in multicoloured tessellations, like giant Lego bricks. — The Economist, "The other handoverAn illustrious Hong Kong container firm sells to China," 15 July 2017 But organic shapes or shapes that don't repeat in a regular pattern are also valid tessellations. — Evelyn Lamb, Scientific American Blog Network, "For World Tessellation Day, Remember to Look Down," 12 June 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tessellation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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