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Mosaic

 - 11 dictionary results

mo⋅sa⋅ic

[moh-zey-ik] noun, adjective, verb, -icked, -ick⋅ing.
–noun
1. a picture or decoration made of small, usually colored pieces of inlaid stone, glass, etc.
2. the process of producing such a picture or decoration.
3. something resembling such a picture or decoration in composition, esp. in being made up of diverse elements: a mosaic of borrowed ideas.
4. Also called aerial mosaic, photomosaic. an assembly of aerial photographs matched in such a way as to show a continuous photographic representation of an area (mosaic map).
5. Architecture. (in an architectural plan) a system of patterns for differentiating the areas of a building or the like, sometimes consisting of purely arbitrary patterns used to separate areas according to function but often consisting of plans of flooring, reflected ceiling plans, overhead views of furnishings and equipment, or other items really included in the building or building plan.
6. Also called mosaic disease. Plant Pathology. any of several diseases of plants, characterized by mottled green or green and yellow areas on the leaves, caused by certain viruses.
7. Biology. an organism exhibiting mosaicism.
8. Television. a light-sensitive surface in a television camera tube, consisting of a thin mica sheet coated on one side with a large number of small globules of silver and cesium insulated from each other. The image to be televised is focused on this surface and the resulting charges on the globules are scanned by an electron beam.
–adjective
9. pertaining to, resembling, or used for making a mosaic or mosaic work: a mosaic tile.
10. composed of a combination of diverse elements.
–verb (used with object)
11. to make a mosaic of or from.
12. to decorate with mosaic.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < MF mosaïque < It mosaico < ML musaicum, re-formation of LL musīvum (opus), L musēum, musaeum mosaic work (quantity of u uncert.), of obscure orig.; variants may show an assumed relationship with Gk mouseîon shrine of the Muses, museum, by analogy with archī(v)um (see archive ), though classical Gk word is not attested in sense “mosaic”


mo⋅sa⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb

Mo⋅sa⋅ic

[moh-zey-ik]
–adjective
of or pertaining to Moses or the writings, laws, and principles attributed to him: Mosaic ethics.
Also, Mo⋅sa⋅i⋅cal.


Origin:
1655–65; < NL Mosaicus, equiv. to LL Mōs(ēs) Moses + -aicus, on the model of Hebraicus Hebraic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Mosaic
mo·sa·ic   (mō-zā'ĭk)   
n.  
    1. A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.

    2. The process or art of making such pictures or designs.

  1. A composite picture made of overlapping, usually aerial, photographs.

  2. Something that resembles a mosaic: a mosaic of testimony from various witnesses.

  3. Botany A viral disease of plants, resulting in light and dark areas in the leaves, which often become shriveled and dwarfed.

  4. A photosensitive surface, as in the iconoscope of a television camera.

  5. Biology An individual exhibiting mosaicism.

tr.v.   mo·sa·icked, mo·sa·ick·ing, mo·sa·ics
  1. To make by mosaic: mosaic a design on a rosewood box.

  2. To adorn with or as if with mosaic: mosaic a sidewalk.


[Middle English musycke, from Old French mosaique, from Old Italian mosaico, from Medieval Latin mūsāicum, neuter of mūsāicus, of the Muses, from Latin Mūsa, Muse, from Greek Mousa; see men-1 in Indo-European roots.]
mo·sa'i·cist (mō-zā'ĭ-sĭst) n.
Mo·sa·ic   (mō-zā'ĭk)   
adj.  Of or relating to Moses or the laws and writings attributed to him.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

mosaic

A picture or design made from small pieces of colored tile, glass, or other material set in mortar. Mosaics have been widely used in Christian churches to decorate walls and ceilings.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

mosaic 
c.1400, from O.Fr. mosaicq "mosaic work," from M.L. musaicum "mosaic work, work of the Muses," neut. of musaicus "of the Muses," from L. Musa (see muse). Medieval mosaics were often dedicated to the Muses. The word formed in M.L. as though from Gk., but the (late) Gk. word for "mosaic work" was mouseion. Fig. use is from 1644.

Mosaic 
"pertaining to Moses," 1662 (earlier Mosaical, 1563), from L. Mosaicus, from Moses (q.v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1mo·sa·ic
Pronunciation: mO-'zA-ik
Function: noun
: an organism or one of its parts composed of cells of more than onegenotype : CHIMERA

Main Entry: 2mosaic
Function: adjective
1 : exhibiting mosaicism
2 : DETERMINATEmo·sa·i·cal·ly /-'zA-&-k(&-)lE/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

mosaic mo·sa·ic (mō-zā'ĭk)
adj.
Patterned in small squares; tesselated. n.
An organism exhibiting mosaicism.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

Mosaic World-Wide Web, tool
NCSA's browser (client) for the World-Wide Web.
Mosaic has been described as "the killer application of the 1990s" because it was the first program to provide a slick multimedia graphical user interface to the Internet's burgeoning wealth of distributed information services (formerly mostly limited to FTP and Gopher) at a time when access to the Internet was expanding rapidly outside its previous domain of academia and large industrial research institutions.
NCSA Mosaic was originally designed and programmed for the X Window System by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina at NCSA. Version 1.0 was released in April 1993, followed by two maintenance releases during summer 1993. Version 2.0 was released in December 1993, along with version 1.0 releases for both the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. An Acorn Archimedes port is underway (May 1994).
Marc Andreessen, who created the NCSA Mosaic research prototype as an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois left to start Mosaic Communications Corporation along with five other former students and staff of the university who were instrumental in NCSA Mosaic's design and development.
(http://ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/Docs/help-about.html).
(ftp://ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu/).
E-mail: (X version), (Macintosh), (Windows version), (general help).
(1995-04-06)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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