lattice

[ lat-is ]
See synonyms for lattice on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a structure of crossed wooden or metal strips usually arranged to form a diagonal pattern of open spaces between the strips.

  2. a window, gate, or the like consisting of such a structure.

  1. Physics. the structure of fissionable and nonfissionable materials geometrically arranged within a nuclear reactor.

  2. Also called Bravais lattice, crystal lattice, space lattice. Crystallography. an arrangement in space of isolated points (lattice points ) in a regular pattern, showing the positions of atoms, molecules, or ions in the structure of a crystal.

  3. Mathematics. a partially ordered set in which every subset containing exactly two elements has a greatest lower bound or intersection and a least upper bound or union.

verb (used with object),lat·ticed, lat·tic·ing.
  1. to furnish with a lattice or latticework.

  2. to form into or arrange like latticework.

Origin of lattice

1
1350–1400; Middle English latis<Middle French lattis, derivative of latte lath <Germanic; see lath

Other words for lattice

Other words from lattice

  • lat·tice·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lattice in a sentence

  • That the weather being calm, he rowed round me several times, observed my windows and wire-lattices that defenced them.

    Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan Swift
  • Instead of window-panes, the openings are furnished with artistically worked stone lattices.

  • Meantime, lights glanced to and fro at the lattices of the tower, as if there was bustle and preparation among its inhabitants.

    Quentin Durward | Sir Walter Scott
  • Scarcely anybody was in the streets—but I could see the inhabitants peeping out from behind lattices.

    War in the Garden of Eden | Kermit Roosevelt
  • As blinds against the sun they have lattices of trees down every street—white-blossoming laburnum, poplars, sycamores.

British Dictionary definitions for lattice

lattice

/ (ˈlætɪs) /


noun
  1. Also called: latticework an open framework of strips of wood, metal, etc, arranged to form an ornamental pattern

    • a gate, screen, etc, formed of such a framework

    • (as modifier): a lattice window

  1. something, such as a decorative or heraldic device, resembling such a framework

  2. an array of objects or points in a periodic pattern in two or three dimensions, esp an array of atoms, ions, etc, in a crystal or an array of points indicating their positions in space: See also Bravais lattice

verb
  1. to make, adorn, or supply with a lattice or lattices

Origin of lattice

1
C14: from Old French lattis, from latte lath

Derived forms of lattice

  • latticed, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for lattice

lattice

[ lătĭs ]


  1. A set of points that, when joined together, form the geometric shape of a mineral crystal. The lattice of the mineral halite, for example, is in the shape of a cube. See more at crystal.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.