Meanings
plural Lissajous figures
- mathematicsA plane curve traced by a point which executes two perpendicular independent harmonic motions, the frequencies of which are in a simple ratio.
The Scope proved to be a haunt for electronics assembly people from Yoyodyne. The green neon sign outside ingeniously depicted the face of an oscilloscope tube, over which flowed an ever-changing dance of Lissajous figures.
1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 30Synonyms: Lissajous curve
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA plane curve traced by a point which executes two perpendicular independent harmonic motions, the frequencies of which are in a simple ratio.
Origin
Named after French mathematician Jules Antoine Lissajous (1822–1880), who invented an apparatus that projected such figures onto a wall.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan corba de Lissajous
- corba de Lissajousplane curve
Finnish Lissajous’n kuvio
- Lissajous’n kuvioplane curve
Russian фигу́ра Лиссажу́
- фигу́ра Лиссажу́ (figúra Lissažú)plane curve
Cite this entry
Lissajous figure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lissajous%20figure
“Lissajous figure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lissajous%20figure. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Lissajous figure,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lissajous%20figure.
Source: Lissajous figure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.