Groundplan
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A diagram showing the physical layout of a set, especially the placement of structures on the stage, as opposed to items on the walls or suspended from the ceiling.
"In some cases, coordination between the lighting and scene designer may result in a preliminary scenic groundplan that indicates not only all of the scenic and masking information, but temporary lighting positions as well."
- 2 A diagram, usually to scale, showing the layout of the ground level of a building or other physical structure; floorplan.
"Here the destruction is even more complete, and it was very difficult to trace the original groundplan."
- 3 A framework or pattern showing the form of something, without all the details.
"A certain groundplan of Human Nature and Life began to fashion itself in me ; wondrous enough, now when I look back on it ; for my whole Universe, physical and spiritual, was as yet a Machine ! However, such a conscious, recognised groundplan, the truest I had, was beginning to be there, and by additional experiments might be corrected and indefinitely extended.'"
- 4 A hypothetical anatomical form from which members of a clade are adaptations.
"A somewhat detailed, and largely innovative reconstruction of the groundplan of hexapod integumental structure has been worked out by Kukalova-Peck (1991, 1994, 1997, this volume)."
Example
More examples"In some cases, coordination between the lighting and scene designer may result in a preliminary scenic groundplan that indicates not only all of the scenic and masking information, but temporary lighting positions as well."
Etymology
From ground + plan.
More for "groundplan"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.