# map

Pronunciation: say "MAP" /mæp/

## Noun

1. A picture of an area, real or imagined, showing where places and other features sit in relation to one another.
   - Simple: A drawing that shows an area and where its places and features are.
   - _Tourists crowded around the map at the train station._
   - _The fantasy novel opens with a map of a world that never existed._
3. A graphical or logical representation of any structure or system, showing where its parts are or how they relate to each other.
   - Simple: A drawing or model that shows the parts of a system and where they are or how they connect.
   - _The genome map reveals relationships between thousands of genes._
   - _Engineers studied a map of the network's connections before the upgrade._
5. A fictional, usually bounded area in which a game or a single session of one is played.
   - Simple: The area in a video game or board game where the action happens.
   - _The team picked a snow-covered map for the final round._
   - _Each map in the game hides its own shortcuts._
6. A function, especially one satisfying a particular property such as continuity or linearity.
   - Simple: In math, a rule that links each input to exactly one output.
   - _A continuous map sends nearby points to nearby points._
   - _The proof relies on a map between the two vector spaces._
9. A data structure that pairs each unique key with a value, letting the key retrieve its associated value; an associative array.
   - Simple: A way of storing data that links each key to a value.
   - _The code uses a map to link each username to a password._
   - _Looking up a key in a map is usually very fast._

## Verb

2. To make a map of an area or show something on a map, often after surveying or examining it.
   - Simple: To make a map of a place, or show where things are as if on a map.
   - _The team mapped the cave system over several months._
   - _Surveyors must map the region before construction begins._
4. To link each thing in one set with a matching thing in another; (of things) to correspond to something.
   - Simple: To match each thing in one group with a thing in another group, or to match something closely.
   - _The system maps usernames to their account settings._
   - _Developers map keyboard buttons to specific actions._
7. To act as a function on something, sending it to another value or element.
   - Simple: In math, to turn each input into one matching output by a fixed rule.
   - _The function maps each point on the line to a point on the curve._
   - _A projection can map three-dimensional shapes onto a flat plane._
8. To assign a drive letter to a shared folder so it can be reached like a local drive.
   - Simple: To give a shared folder a drive letter on your computer.
   - _The technician mapped the network folder to a local drive._
   - _Users can map shared folders to access files quickly._

## Noun

10. A person's face. *(dated, UK)*
   - Simple: The front of a person's head, where the eyes, nose, and mouth are.
   - _"With a map like that, you'll frighten the horses," my grandfather would tease whenever I sulked._
   - _Back in his army days, Dad says, any recruit caught smirking was told to straighten his map at once._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Araschnia and Cyrestis, with map-like markings on their wings.

## Origin

This is a shortening of Medieval Latin mappa mundī, a compound of Latin mappa ("napkin, cloth") and mundus ("world"). It replaced Middle English mappemounde ("world map"), which came from Old French mapamonde. It is a doublet of mop, nape, and nappe.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/map (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).