Meanings
plural cyclegraphs
- A photograph produced by attaching tiny lights to a moving person or object and using a long exposure to see the path of movement.
The cyclegraph first created the problem of inefficiency by recording it and making it visible.
2020, Florian Hoof, Angels of Efficiency: A Media History of Consulting, page 1582 more examples
But this cyclegraph of Barnes, made by Frank B. Gilbreth for Walter Camp and Golf Illustrated, disproves the maxim utterly.
1920 January, Walter Bannard, “Charting a Champion”, in Popular Science, volume 96, number 1A cyclegraph is able to show all three aspects, i.e. workers, workplace layout and the path of movements; however, if fails to indicate about the direction and speed of movement.
2018, Lakhwinder Pal Singh, Work Study and Ergonomics, page 44
Origin
Coined by Frank B. Gilbreth as cyle + graph to highlight the repetitive and cyclical nature of the work processes he was photographing.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cyclegraph. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyclegraph
“cyclegraph.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyclegraph. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cyclegraph,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cyclegraph.
Source: cyclegraph on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.