tessellation

T1E1S1S1E1L1L1A1T1I1O1N1
/tɛsəˈleɪʃən/

noun

The property or fact of tessellating.

“Squares can be used for tessellation.”

OriginEnglish tessellate ← Latin tessellātu ← Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares) →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nountessellation (countable and uncountable, plural tessellations)

plural tessellations

  1. uncountableThe property or fact of tessellating.

    Squares can be used for tessellation.

  2. countableA tiling pattern with no gaps; the result of tessellating an area or plane.

    This is a tessellation of the plane with squares and regular octagons.

    1 more example

    Decorative arches intersect the graceful latticework of the expansive ridge and furrow trainshed rooves, woven together by a staggering tessellation of 48,000 glass panels.

    2023 October 18, Nick Brodrick, “The grand gateway to Glasgow”, in RAIL, number 994, page 32
  3. countableuncommonuncountablepolygon tessellation.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
pattern

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwóres
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kʷétwores
  3. Ancient Greekτέσσαρες (téssares)
  4. Latintessera
  5. Latintessella
  6. Latintessellātu
  7. Englishtessellate
  8. Englishtessellation

From tessellate + -ion.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian мозайка
  • мозайка (mozajka)tiling pattern with no gaps; the result of tessellating an area or plane
Catalan tessel·lació, tessel·lació
  • tessel·lacióthe property or fact of tessellating
  • tessel·laciótiling pattern with no gaps; the result of tessellating an area or plane
Indonesian pengubinan, pengubinan
  • pengubinanthe property or fact of tessellating
  • pengubinantiling pattern with no gaps; the result of tessellating an area or plane
Malay penjubinan
  • penjubinantiling pattern with no gaps; the result of tessellating an area or plane
Māori rōpinepinetanga, rōpinepine
  • rōpinepinetangathe property or fact of tessellating
  • rōpinepinetiling pattern with no gaps; the result of tessellating an area or plane
Polish parkietaż
  • parkietażtiling pattern with no gaps; the result of tessellating an area or plane
Welsh brithwaith, teseliad
  • brithwaiththe property or fact of tessellating
  • teseliadthe property or fact of tessellating
Cite this entry
APA

tessellation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tessellation

MLA

“tessellation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tessellation. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tessellation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tessellation.

Source: tessellation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.