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Pattern vs Contour - What's the difference?

pattern | contour | Related terms |

Pattern is a related term of contour.


As nouns the difference between pattern and contour

is that pattern is model, example while contour is an outline, boundary or border, usually of curved shape.

As a verb pattern

is to apply a pattern.

pattern

Noun

(en noun)
  • Model, example.
  • # Something from which a copy is made; a model or outline.
  • #* 1923 , ‘President Wilson’, Time , 18 Jun 1923:
  • There is no reason why all colleges and universities should be cut to the same pattern .
  • # Someone or something seen as an example to be imitated; an exemplar.
  • #* 1946 , Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy , I.16:
  • The Platonic Socrates was a pattern to subsequent philosophers for many ages.
  • #
  • #
  • # A representative example.
  • # (US) The material needed to make a piece of clothing.
  • # (textiles) The paper or cardboard template from which the parts of a garment are traced onto fabric prior to cutting out and assembling.
  • # (metalworking, dated) A full-sized model around which a mould of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mould without damage.
  • # (computing) A text string containing wildcards, used for matching.
  • There were no files matching the pattern *.txt.
  • Decorative arrangement.
  • # A design, motif or decoration, especially formed from regular repeated elements.
  • #* 2003 , Valentino, ‘Is there a future in fashion's past?’, Time , 5 Feb 2003:
  • On my way to work the other day, I stopped at a church in Rome and saw a painting of the Madonna. The subtle pattern of blues and golds in the embroidery of her dress was so amazing that I used it to design a new evening dress for my haute couture.
  • # A naturally-occurring or random arrangement of shapes, colours etc. which have a regular or decorative effect.
  • #* 2011 , Rachel Cooke, The Observer , 19 Jun 2011:
  • He lifted the entire joint or fowl up into the air, speared on a carving fork, and sliced pieces off it so that they fell on the plate below in perfectly organised patterns .
  • # The given spread, range etc. of shot fired from a gun.
  • # A particular sequence of events, facts etc. which can be understood, used to predict the future, or seen to have a mathematical, geometric, statistical etc. relationship.
  • #* 1980 , ‘Shifting Targets’, Time , 6 Oct 1980:
  • The three killings pointed to an ugly new shift in the enduring pattern of violence in Northern Ireland: the mostly Protestant Ulster police, or those suspected of affiliation with them, have become more prominent targets for the I.R.A. than the British troops.
  • #* 2003 , Kate Hudson, The Guardian , 14 Aug 2003:
  • Look again at how the US and its allies behaved then, and the pattern is unmistakable.
  • # (linguistics) An intelligible arrangement in a given area of language.
  • Synonyms

    * original (1) * stencil (1) * tessellation (2) * category (3) * cycle (4) * similarity (5) * See also

    Antonyms

    * antipattern

    Derived terms

    * design pattern

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to apply a pattern
  • To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.
  • * Sir T. Herbert
  • [A temple] patterned from that which Adam reared in Paradise.
  • to follow an example
  • *
  • to fit into a pattern
  • To serve as an example for.
  • Synonyms

    * model * categorize (2)

    contour

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An outline, boundary or border, usually of curved shape.
  • The low drag contour of a modern automobile.
  • A line on a map or chart delineating those points which have the same altitude or other plotted quantity: a contour line or isopleth.
  • (linguistics) a speech sound which behaves as a single segment, but which makes an internal transition from one quality, place, or manner to another.
  • Hyponyms

    * (speech sound) diphthong, contour tone, affricate

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    *