nomogram

noun

no·​mo·​gram ˈnä-mə-ˌgram  ˈnō- 

: a graphic representation that consists of several lines marked off to scale and arranged in such a way that by using a straightedge to connect known values on two lines an unknown value can be read at the point of intersection with another line

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French nomogramme, from Greek nómos "custom, convention, law" + French -o- -o- + -gramme -gram, after earlier nomographie "the theory, making and use of nomograms" — more at nomothetic

Note: The French word was probably introduced by the engineer and mathematician Philibert Maurice d'Ocagne (1862-1938), who devised the first nomograms. In Traité de nomographie (Paris, 1899), d'Ocagne uses the word abaque, literally "abacus," to refer to nomograms. He replaced abaque with nomogramme in several publications from the early twentieth century, as in the article "Exposé synthétique des principes fondamentaux de la nomographie," Journal de l'École polytechnique, 2^ème série, 8^ème cahier (1903), pp. 97-158.

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

nomogram

noun

no·​mo·​gram ˈnäm-ə-ˌgram  ˈnō-mə- 

: a set of several lines marked off to scale and arranged in such a way that by using a straightedge to connect known values on two lines an unknown value can be read at the point of intersection with another line

Medical Definition

nomogram

noun

no·​mo·​gram ˈnäm-ə-ˌgram  ˈnō-mə- 

: a graphic representation that consists of several lines marked off to scale and arranged in such a way that by using a straightedge to connect known values on two lines an unknown value can be read at the point of intersection with another line