Definition:Tessellation

Definition

A tessellation is a division of the plane into plane geometric figures, referred to as tiles.

The division is made in such a way that the tiles are fitted together with no gaps and no overlaps.

Also known as

A tessellation is also known as a tiling.

Some sources use the spelling tesselation, but this is technically incorrect.

Also see

• Definition:Tile

• Definition:Regular Tessellation

• Definition:Honeycomb: an extension of the concept of tessellation to higher dimensions.

• Results about tessellations can be found here.

Linguistic Note

The word tessellation derives from the Latin tessella, meaning small square.

A tessella was a small cubic piece of material used to make mosaics.

The word tessella itself derives from tessera, the Latin word for square.

This in turn derives from the Greek word τέσσερα (tessera), one of their words for four.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): tessellation
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): tessellation
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): tessellation
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): tiling