graticule
nounUK /ˈɡɹætɪkjuːl/ · US /ˈɡɹætəˌkjul/
Etymology Borrowed from French graticule, from Medieval Latin grātīcula, from Latin crāticula (“grating, grill”), from crātis (“hurdle; wickerwork”) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *kréh₂-tis (“fenced handiwork”)) + -cula (feminine form of -culus, a variant of -ulus (“diminutive suffix”)).
› A grid of horizontal and vertical lines…
Geography, Natural sciences The network of lines of latitude and longitude that make up a coordinate system such as the one used for charts and maps of the Earth.
Engineering, Natural sciences, Optics, Physical sciences, Physics UK Synonym of reticle (“a transparent plate marked with a crosshair, grid, or scale which is used in an optical instrument, etc., to aid in alignment, counting, or measurement of objects being observed; also, the crosshair, grid, or scale on such a plate”).
Broadly A (nearly) rectangular or square region created by a grid of horizontal and vertical lines.
- Derived terms
- graticulate, graticuled
- Related terms
- graticulation, crosshair, gradation, graduation, grating, mesh