Crossword clues for tangram
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tangram \Tan"gram\, n. [Cf. Trangram.] A Chinese toy made by cutting a square of thin wood, or other suitable material, into seven pieces, as shown in the cut, these pieces being capable of combination in various ways, so as to form a great number of different figures. It is now often used in primary schools as a means of instruction.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Chinese geometric puzzle, 1864, said to be an arbitrary formation based on anagram, etc. First element perhaps Chinese t'an "to extend," or t'ang, commonly used in Cantonese for "Chinese." Some suggest it is the name of the inventor, "but no such person is known to Chinese scholars" [OED]. Another theory involves the Tanka, an outcast aboriginal people of southern China, and Western sailors who discovered the puzzle from their Tanka girlfriends. Perhaps from an obscure sense of tram. The Chinese name is Ch'i ch'iao t'u "seven ingenious plan."
Wiktionary
n. A Chinese puzzle made of a square that is cut up into different triangular pieces which can then be reassembled to make designs.
WordNet
n. a Chinese puzzle consisting of a square divided into seven pieces that must be arranged to match particular designs
Wikipedia
The tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape (given only an outline or silhouette) using all seven pieces, which may not overlap. It is reputed to have been invented in China during the Song Dynasty, and then carried over to Europe by trading ships in the early 19th century. It became very popular in Europe for a time then, and then again during World War I. It is one of the most popular dissection puzzles in the world. A Chinese psychologist has termed the tangram "the earliest psychological test in the world", albeit one made for entertainment rather than analysis.
Tangram is the thirteenth album by the electronic music group Tangerine Dream. It became their fifth biggest selling album, reaching #36 in the British Top 40, and spending 5 weeks on the chart.
Tangram is a dissection puzzle.
Tangram may refer to:
- Tangram, Nepal, a village in Nepal
- Tangram (album), a 1980 album by Tangerine Dream
Usage examples of "tangram".
The Captain had been challenged to make the tangram into an albatross, a puzzle that might have been fairly simple for him had he not been under a time constraint of sixty-seven foot thumps.
The floor of the tavern shook with the stamping, as did the table on which the Captain was endeavoring to sort out the tangram, causing the puzzle to jiggle violently and throwing off his concentration.
Leaving his room brusquely, to take this revelation away and try to fit it into the hectic tangram of recent events, she had hardly reached the newel at the stairhead when she heard a crash.
This is not the case with Tangrams, a recreation that appears to be at least four thousand years old, that has apparently never been dormant, and that has not been altered or "improved upon" since the legendary Chinaman Tan first cut out the seven pieces shown in Diagram I.
This gentleman, it is said, records that there were originally seven books of Tangrams, compiled in China two thousand years before the Christian era.
If you place your Tangrams together on white paper so that they do not quite touch one another, in some cases the effect is improved by the white lines.