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triangulation - 5 dictionary results

tri⋅an⋅gu⋅la⋅tion

  [trahy-ang-gyuh-ley-shuhn]
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–noun Surveying, Navigation.
1. a technique for establishing the distance between any two points, or the relative position of two or more points, by using such points as vertices of a triangle or series of triangles, such that each triangle has a side of known or measurable length (base or base line) that permits the size of the angles of the triangle and the length of its other two sides to be established by observations taken either upon or from the two ends of the base line.
2. the triangles thus formed and measured.
Origin:
1810–20; < ML triangulātiōn- (s. of triangulātiō) the making of triangles. See triangulate, -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tri·an·gu·la·tion   (trī-āng'gyə-lā'shən)   
n.  
    1. A surveying technique in which a region is divided into a series of triangular elements based on a line of known length so that accurate measurements of distances and directions may be made by the application of trigonometry.
    2. The network of triangles so laid out.
  2. The location of an unknown point, as in navigation, by the formation of a triangle having the unknown point and two known points as the vertices.
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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Main Entry:  triangulation
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  See trilateration
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2009 Dictionary.com, LLC
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Triangulation

Tri*an`gu*la"tion\, n. [Cf. F. triangulation.] (Surv.) The series or network of triangles into which the face of a country, or any portion of it, is divided in a trigonometrical survey; the operation of measuring the elements necessary to determine the triangles into which the country to be surveyed is supposed to be divided, and thus to fix the positions and distances of the several points connected by them.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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triangulation   (trī-āng'gyə-lā'shən)  Pronunciation Key 
A method of determining the relative positions of points in space by measuring the distances, and sometimes angles, between those points and other reference points whose positions are known. Triangulation often involves the use of trigonometry. It is commonly used in the navigation of aircraft and boats, and is the method used in the Global Positioning System , in which the reference points are satellites.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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