The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mosaic \Mo*sa"ic\, n. [F. mosa["i]que; cf. Pr. mozaic, musec, Sp. & Pg. mosaico, It. mosaico, musaico, LGr. ?, ?, L. musivum; all fr. Gr. ? belonging to the Muses. See Muse the goddess.]
(Fine Arts) A surface decoration made by inlaying in patterns small pieces of variously colored glass, stone, or other material; -- called also mosaic work.
A picture or design made in mosaic; an article decorated in mosaic.
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Something resembling a mosaic[1]; something made up of different pieces, fitted together by design to form a unified composition.
aerial mosaic An aerial photograph of a large area, made by carefully fitting together aerial photographs of smaller areas so that the edges match in location, and the whole provides a continuous image of the larger area. Called also
mosaic map and photomosaic.
mosaic virus A type of plant virus that causes green and yellow mottling of leaves of a plant. A much-studied type is the tobacco mosaic virus, affecting the tobacco plant.
Usage examples of "mosaic map".
The PanAsian lieutenant commanding it consulted a recently constructed aerial mosaic map and indicated to the pilot that he was to hover.
Guybon was alteady there, in his burnished breastplate with the three golden knots on his shoulder, and Dyelin delicately holding her blue silk skirts up as she moved, the pair of them frowning at the huge mosaic map, where well over a dozen red discs marked the city's northern wall.
The tank had brushed a stone gatepost to widen the Compound entrance, then dragged a sparking line across a courtyard-sized mosaic map of Southern District with all the major cities and terrain features described.
On one marble wall were mounted skulls of the two-horned Sumatran rhino, while the wall opposite supported a bright mosaic map of the Indies, fringed with exotic tribal figures, together with insects, flowers, and bright-plumaged birds.