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triangulation

Triangulation is defined as a method of surveying an area by dividing it into triangles.

(noun)

An example of triangulation is determining the total area of an island by setting a fixed point in the middle of the island, dividing the island into triangles from that point, determining that one side of a triangle is 1000 feet long and that the triangle makes a 180 degree angle, and then determining the length of the other side based on this information.

See triangulation in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

Surveying, Navigation the process of determining the distance between points on the earth's surface, or the relative positions of points, by dividing up a large area into a series of connected triangles, measuring a base line between two points, and then locating a third point by computing both the size of the angles made by lines from this point to each end of the base line and the lengths of these lines
the triangles thus marked out

Origin: ML triangulatio

See triangulation in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

a. A surveying technique in which a region is divided into a series of triangular elements based on a line of known length so that accurate measurements of distances and directions may be made by the application of trigonometry.
b. The network of triangles so laid out.
The location of an unknown point, as in navigation, by the formation of a triangle having the unknown point and two known points as the vertices.

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