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mosaic

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Any composite structure made from diverse elements.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

mohzayik

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

moʊˈzeɪɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. figurative

    Any composite structure made from diverse elements.

  2. Arrangement of aerial photographs forming a composite picture

  3. A composite picture made from overlapping photographs.

  4. A piece of artwork created by placing colored squares (usually tiles) in a pattern so as to create a picture.

  5. Pixelization. (a method of censorship)

adjective

  1. of an individual

    Containing cells of varying genetic constitution.

  2. Of or relating to Moses or the laws and writings attributed to him

  3. Pertaining to Moses, or the writings and traditions attributed to him.

verb

  1. transitive

    To arrange in a mosaic.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any composite structure made from diverse elements.

Used this way, mosaic is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use mosaic

  • “We saw a beautiful mosaic made from many small colorful tiles.”

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

mosaic virusmosaic lawtobacco mosaicmosaic floormosaic workmosaic accountyellow mosaicmosaic pattern

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • mosaic goldnounCompound term

    A yellow pigment sometimes suspended in lacquer.

  • mosaic lawnounCompound term

    The laws (beginning with the Ten Commandments) that God gave to the Israelites through Moses.

  • mosaic culturenounCompound term

    A highly diverse culture.

  • potato mosaicnounCompound term

    A disease of the leaves of potato plants.

  • tobacco mosaicnounCompound term

    A plant disease causing discoloration of the leaves of tobacco plants.

  • arial mosaicnounCompound term

    Arrangement of aerial photographs forming a composite picture.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.