diagram

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdaɪ.ə.ɡɹæm/, /ˈdaɪ.ɡɹæm/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French diagramme or directly Latin diagramma (“a scale, a musical scale”),^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek διάγραμμα (diágramma, “that which is marked out by lines, a geometric figure”),^[2][3] from διαγράφω (diagráphō, “to mark out by lines”), from διά (diá, “across, through”) and γράφω (gráphō, “to write, draw”) (see -gram).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An illustrative figure showing the outline or general scheme of something: 1619 in Barnhart, the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1610s in Etymonline.^[2][6][7][3]

Semantic evolution

In geometry, a figure illustrating a proposition, it is from 1645 (the 1640s).^[6][3] After Greek usage it meant a list or register (1631) and a musical scale (1656), both obsolete.^[6] A drawing symbolizing abstract relations is from 1839.^[6] The verb is from 1822 in Etymonline, 1840 in Carlyle in Barnhart,^[3][2] and diagrammatic from 1853.^[2]

Timeline

• 1619 – an outline figure.^[2][6]
• 1645 – a geometric figure.^[6]
• 1840 – to diagram (verb).^[2]
• 1853 – diagrammatic.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A simple drawing or plan showing how something works or how its parts relate.
2. A graphic representation of a mathematical relationship, as a Venn diagram.

Verb

1. To show in a diagram.

Word family

• diagrammable
• diagrammatically

Related words

• diagrammatic
• -gram
• graph
• grammar
• program

Usage notes

In Scottish railway use a diagram was the scale of working drawn up for each driver or fireman.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)