pattern n
1. a perceptual structure; "the composition presents problems for students of musical form"; "a visual pattern must include not only objects but the spaces between them" [syn: form, shape]
2. a customary way of operation or behavior; "it is their practice to give annual raises"; "they changed their dietary pattern" [syn: practice]
3. a decorative or artistic work; "the coach had a design on the doors" [syn: design, figure]
4. something regarded as a normative example; "the convention of not naming the main character"; "violence is the rule not the exception"; "his formula for impressing visitors" [syn: convention, normal, rule, formula]
5. a model considered worthy of imitation; "the American constitution has provided a pattern for many republics"
6. something intended as a guide for making something else; "a blueprint for a house"; "a pattern for a skirt" [syn: blueprint, design]
7. the path that is prescribed for an airplane that is preparing to land at an airport; "the traffic patterns around O'Hare are very crowded"; "they stayed in the pattern until the fog lifted" [syn: traffic pattern, approach pattern}]
8. graphical representation (in polar or cartesian coordinates) of the spatial distribution of radiation from an antenna as a function of angle [syn: radiation pattern, radiation diagram}] v
9. plan or create according to a model or models [syn: model]
10. form a pattern; "These sentences pattern like the ones we studied before"

Pattern \Pat"tern\, n. (Gun.) A diagram showing the distribution of the pellets of a shotgun on a vertical target perpendicular to the plane of fire.

Pattern \Pat"tern\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Patterned; p. pr. & vb. n. Patterning.]

See more meaning on Pattern...

A pattern, from the French patron, is a type of theme of recurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set of objects.

These elements repeat in a predictable manner. It can be a template or model which can be used to generate things or parts of a thing, especially if the things that are created have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred, in which case the things are said to exhibit the unique pattern.

The most basic patterns, called Tessellations, are based on repetition and periodicity. A single template, tile, or cell, is combined with duplicates without change or modification. For example, simple harmonic oscillators produce repeated patterns of movement.

Other patterns, such as Penrose tiling and Pongal or Kolam patterns from India, use symmetry which is a form of finite repetition, instead of translation which can repeat to infinity. Fractal patterns also use magnification or scaling giving an effect known as self-similarity or scale invariance. Some plants, like Ferns, even generate a pattern using an affine transformation which combines translation, scaling, rotation and reflection!

• Size matters: Is the 60-30-10 voting pattern significant?
  Earlier in the week, Ateneo math professor Lex Muga noted what appeared to be a consistent voting pattern across the country: throughout most of the voting period, Team PNoy candidates were consistently getting 60% of the vote; rival UNA candidates, 30%; and independent candidates, 10% – the now-infamous "30-60-10" voting pattern. Read more on this news related to 'Pattern'
• '60-30-10' vote pattern doesn't prove fraud: lawyer
  MANILA - Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal shot down insinuations of fraud with the discovery of an alleged pattern in the votes cast for senator in the just concluded mid-term election. Read more on this news related to 'Pattern'
• 60-30-10 voting pattern: Conspiracy or just math?
  The now-infamous "60-30-10" voting pattern seems counterintuitive at best and a smoking gun at worst: How can a supposed democracy yield such uniform results across the board? The question has triggered a prickly intercontinental debate among academics, with New York University science dean Michael Purugganan dismissing the pattern as simply "what w Read more on this news related to 'Pattern'