TRIANGULATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does triangulation mean? 

• TRIANGULATION (noun)
  The noun TRIANGULATION has 2 senses:

1. a trigonometric method of determining the position of a fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points a known distance apart; useful in navigation

2. a method of surveying; the area is divided into triangles and the length of one side and its angles with the other two are measured, then the lengths of the other sides can be calculated

  Familiarity information: TRIANGULATION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRIANGULATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A trigonometric method of determining the position of a fixed point from the angles to it from two fixed points a known distance apart; useful in navigation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("triangulation" is a kind of...):

trig; trigonometry (the mathematics of triangles and trigonometric functions)

Derivation:

triangulate (measure by using trigonometry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A method of surveying; the area is divided into triangles and the length of one side and its angles with the other two are measured, then the lengths of the other sides can be calculated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("triangulation" is a kind of...):

surveying (the practice of measuring angles and distances on the ground so that they can be accurately plotted on a map)

Derivation:

triangulate (survey by triangulation)

 Context examples 

To determine the surface locations of the geysers, researchers employed the same process of triangulation used historically to survey geological features on Earth, such as mountains.

(101 Geysers on Icy Saturn Moon, NASA)