WordGarden.iotessellate
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /tˈɛsɪlˌeɪt/
US
Meanings
Verb
to cover or arrange a surface with repeated shapes that fit together without gaps or overlaps
to subdivide a digital surface or image into smaller polygons or tiles for rendering
Beyond the definition
Imagine a honeycomb: each cell fits neatly beside the next, with no empty space left over. That is what it means to tessellate. When something tessellates a flat surface, it covers it completely with repeated shapes, like tiles, without gaps or overlaps. You can see this in mosaics, brickwork, floor patterns, and many geometric designs. An artist might tessellate a page with triangles, and in a loose everyday sense, people may also say honeybees tessellate a surface with hexagonal cells.
To tessellate is to arrange shapes so that they cover a flat surface completely, with no gaps and no overlaps. Picture a floor made of tiles, a honeycomb made of hexagons, or a repeating design that spreads across a page like a perfect puzzle. The idea is not simply repetition; the shapes must fit together exactly.
The word is common in mathematics, art, and design. In geometry, people study which shapes can tessellate a plane. Squares, equilateral triangles, and regular hexagons are classic examples because they fit together neatly again and again. Other shapes cannot do this on their own, which is why tessellation is useful when talking about angles, symmetry, and pattern.
Outside math, the word often appears when people talk about mosaics, brick walls, tiled floors, and the repeating designs in art. It can also be used more broadly for natural patterns that seem to lock together closely, though the strictest meaning usually refers to shapes covering a flat surface.
The word comes from the Latin "tessella," a small tile used in mosaics. That history fits the modern meaning well: when shapes tessellate, they build order through exact repetition. So when you notice a pattern that spreads across a surface with nothing missing and nothing sticking out, you are looking at shapes that tessellate.
Examples
- 1
Geometry
Squares and triangles can tessellate without leaving gaps.
- 2
Interior design
The designer tessellated the lobby floor with small black-and-white tiles.
- Patterntessellate + surface with + material/pattern
cover the surface using it
- 3
Computer graphics
The game engine tessellates the terrain so the hills look smoother on screen.
- Domainin computer graphics, tessellate something
divide it into many small shapes
See also
Forms and spellings
1 form open this card.
Main spelling
- tessellateverb