delineation


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de·lin·e·ate

 (dĭ-lĭn′ē-āt′)
tr.v. de·lin·e·at·ed, de·lin·e·at·ing, de·lin·e·ates
1.
a. To draw or depict: "In black and white wash, he delineated the gnarled roots of a tree" (Sally Holmes Holtze).
b. To describe or characterize in words: "the specter of the bored and isolated housewife, which Friedan delineated so brilliantly" (Mary V. Dearborn).
2.
a. To mark, form, or show the outline or border of: The police delineated the crime scene with yellow tape. A hedge delineates one plot of land from the other.
b. To establish the position of (a border): The treaty delineates the border between Spanish and American territory.
c. To show or contain a distinguishing characteristic of; distinguish: "The first game ... delineated the differences between the two teams" (Stuart Miller).

[Latin dēlīneāre, dēlīneāt- : dē-, de- + līnea, line, thread; see line1.]

de·lin′e·a′tion n.
de·lin′e·a′tive adj.
de·lin′e·a′tor n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

de•lin•e•a•tion

(dɪˌlɪn iˈeɪ ʃən)

n.
1. the act or process of delineating.
2. a chart or diagram; sketch; rough draft.
3. a description.
[1560–70; < Late Latin]
de•lin′e•a`tive (-ˌeɪ tɪv, -ə tɪv) adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.delineation - a graphic or vivid verbal descriptiondelineation - a graphic or vivid verbal description; "too often the narrative was interrupted by long word pictures"; "the author gives a depressing picture of life in Poland"; "the pamphlet contained brief characterizations of famous Vermonters"
description, verbal description - a statement that represents something in words
epithet - descriptive word or phrase
portrait, portraiture, portrayal - a word picture of a person's appearance and character
2.delineation - a drawing of the outlines of forms or objectsdelineation - a drawing of the outlines of forms or objects
animalization - a depiction in the form of an animal
drawing - a representation of forms or objects on a surface by means of lines; "drawings of abstract forms"; "he did complicated pen-and-ink drawings like medieval miniatures"
3.delineation - representation by drawing or painting etc
pictorial representation, picturing - visual representation as by photography or painting
portraiture - the activity of making portraits
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

delineation

noun
1. outline, description, account, drawing, picture, chart, tracing, portrait, representation, diagram, portrayal, depiction His razor-sharp delineation of ordinary life.
2. determination, determining, defining, charting, mapping out the delineation of the provincial borders
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

delineation

noun
1. A line marking and shaping the outer form of an object:
2. The act or process of describing in lifelike imagery:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

delineation

[dɪˌlɪnɪˈeɪʃən] Ndelineación f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

delineation

[dɪˌlɪniˈeɪʃən] n
(= depiction) [place, character, situation] → description f
(= marking) [border] → tracé m
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

delineation

nSkizzierung f; (of boundary, border)Einzeichnung f; (= description)Beschreibung f, → Darstellung f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

delineation

[dɪˌlɪnɪˈeɪʃn] n (frm) → delineamento
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
I take the imputation in good part, as a compliment to the just delineation of my female characters; and though I am bound to attribute much of the severity of my censors to this suspicion, I make no effort to refute it, because, in my own mind, I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be.
"It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda"; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.
This can never be tied down by such strict rules, either in the delineation of the offense by the prosecutors, or in the construction of it by the judges, as in common cases serve to limit the discretion of courts in favor of personal security.
What that mental attitude was capable of, in the way of an elegant, yet plain-spoken, and life-like delineation of men's moods and manners, as also in the way of determining those moods and manners themselves to all that was lively, unaffected, and harmonious, can be seen nowhere better than in Mr.
The delineation of Socrates in the Republic is not wholly consistent.
To take an illustration from a sister art, the antiquarian details may be said to represent the peculiar features of a landscape under delineation of the pencil.
We will not wring the public bosom, with the delineation of such suffering!
The auctioneer heard, without much surprise, that his was a constitution which (always with due watching) might be left to itself, so as to offer a beautiful example of a disease with all its phases seen in clear delineation, and that he probably had the rare strength of mind voluntarily to become the test of a rational procedure, and thus make the disorder of his pulmonary functions a general benefit to society.
But they all showed a rather remarkable aptitude for delineation which further fortified Bowen's comparisons between these people and the extinct Cro-Magnons whose ancient art is still preserved in the caverns of Niaux and Le Portel.
In some instances, to the quick, observant eye, those linear marks, as in a veritable engraving, but afford the ground for far other delineations. These are hieroglyphical; that is, if you call those mysterious cyphers on the walls of pyramids hieroglyphics, then that is the proper word to use in the present connexion.
But quitting all these unprofessional attempts, let us glance at those pictures of leviathan purporting to be sober, scientific delineations, by those who know.
This rigid adhesion to truth, an indispensable requisite in history and travels, destroys the charm of fiction; for all that is necessary to be conveyed to the mind by the latter had better be done by delineations of principles, and of characters in their classes, than by a too fastidious attention to originals.