Meanings
plural Schlegel diagrams
- geometryA projection of a polytope from n-dimensional space to n-1 dimensions through a point beyond one of its faces; especially such a projection (itself represented in 2 dimensions) of a 3- or 4-dimensional polytope.
Schlegel diagrams are a useful way to explore how these polyhedra can be linked (Hoppe and Köhler 1988).
2002, Ian David Brown, chapter L, in The Chemical Bond in Inorganic Chemistry: The Bond Valence, page 1502 more examples
The location of the point x₀ can always be chosen so that the edges in the Schlegel diagram can be drawn as non-intersecting straight lines.
1999, R. B. King, “1: Topology in Chemistry”, in D Bonchev, D.H Rouvray, editors, Chemical Topology: Introduction and Fundamentals, page 21These structures may all be represented on a planar surface by their Schlegel diagrams. A polyhedron Schlegel diagram is its networks of edges and vertices drawn in a special way: if you hold the polyhedron so close to your face that one of faces frames the entire polyhedron and you see all the other edges meeting inside that frame, then you have a Schlegel diagram.
2013, Arthur L. Loeb, “5: Polyhedra: Surfaces or Solids?”, in Marjorie Senechal, editor, Shaping Space: Exploring Polyhedra in Nature, Art, and the Geometrical Imagination, page 69
Origin
From Schlegel (“a surname”) + diagram, after German mathematician Victor Schlegel, who introduced the diagram in 1886.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan diagrama de Schlegel
- diagrama de Schlegelprojection of a polytope from n-dimensional space to n-1 dimensions
French diagramme de Schlegel
- diagramme de Schlegelprojection of a polytope from n-dimensional space to n-1 dimensions
German Schlegeldiagramm
- Schlegeldiagrammprojection of a polytope from n-dimensional space to n-1 dimensions
Italian diagramma di Schlegel
- diagramma di Schlegelprojection of a polytope from n-dimensional space to n-1 dimensions
Polish diagram Schlegela
- diagram Schlegelaprojection of a polytope from n-dimensional space to n-1 dimensions
Spanish diagrama de Schlegel
- diagrama de Schlegelprojection of a polytope from n-dimensional space to n-1 dimensions
Cite this entry
Schlegel diagram. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Schlegel%20diagram
“Schlegel diagram.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Schlegel%20diagram. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Schlegel diagram,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Schlegel%20diagram.
Source: Schlegel diagram on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.