noun
mosaic
moh-ZAYK
noun
1
A picture or pattern made by fitting together small pieces of colored tile, glass or stone.
"The floor of the ancient villa was decorated with an intricate mosaic."
"She spent the summer learning to make mosaics from broken pottery."
2
A varied combination of different elements forming a whole.
"The city is a mosaic of cultures and languages."
verb
1
To decorate or arrange something in the style of a mosaic.
"They mosaicked the garden path with pieces of colored glass."
How to Use Mosaic
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn image built from many small pieces, or by extension, anything made up of varied parts.
Easily confused with
Mosaic (relating to Moses)
Common pairings
a mosaic of
mosaic tile
mosaic pattern
Word Forms
mosaicked past tense, mosaiced past tense, mosaics plural, mosaics singular
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Etymology
From Italian mosaico, from Medieval Latin musaicum, ultimately tied to Greek Mouseion, "shrine of the Muses" — the same root that gives us "museum".