map

noun

1. A visual representation of an area, whether real or imaginary, showing the relative positions of places and other features.

   “a map of Australia, a map of Lilliput”

   “He bought a map for the tour of Edinburgh Castle.”

   “Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.”

   “Anna, it is a map.”

2. A graphical or logical representation of any structure or system, showing the positions of or relationships between its components.

   “a map of the Earth's magnetic field”

   “The 256 bytes of internal RAM are subdivided as shown in the memory map above.”

   “Creating a complete map of the human connectome would therefore be a monumental milestone but not the end of the journey to understanding how our brains work.”

3. A function, especially a function satisfying a certain property (e.g. continuity, linearity, etc.; see Usage notes).

   “Let f be a map from ℝ to ℝ”

4. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Araschnia (especially, Araschnia levana) and Cyrestis, having map-like markings on the wings.
5. (UK, dated)The face.

   “And as the eye rested on him, he too filled me with pity and terror, for his map was flushed and his manner distraught. He looked like Jack Dempsey at the conclusion of his first conference with Gene Tunney, the occasion, if you remember, when he forgot to duck.”

6. An imaginary or fictional area, often predefined and confined, where a game or a session thereof takes place.

   “I don't want to play this map again!”

   “Jack loves playing on this Fortnite map.”

   “On top of that, each of Evolve's maps are dim, open arenas with little to interact with besides the occasional hostile organism.”

   “Maps are littered with little challenges in my pursuit of explorable shortcuts, treasure chests of gear, and statues that grant me more health.”

7. Synonym of associative array.
8. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of missed approach point.
9. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of modified American plan, a hotel rate that included accommodation, breakfast and dinner, but not lunch.
10. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of microtubule-associated protein.
11. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of modified atmosphere packaging.
12. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of mean arterial pressure.
13. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, uncountable)Acronym of methyl-acetylene propadiene.
14. (abbreviation, alt-of, attributive, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of multiple aim point.
15. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, euphemistic, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of minor-attracted person.
16. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of Mexican-American Princess; overly materialistic and selfish young Mexican-American woman.

    “My Puerto Rican roommate, who had survived the New York school system, would sarcastically call me a “MAP” or Mexican-American princess because of my boarding school experience.”

    “Frank, Annalise’s main henchman, blames Laurel, the intern student he’s screwing, for messing up their secret trip to get DNA. “I’m pissed because you tattled to the teacher like the spoiled little M.A.P you are,” he snaps. Someone in the car asks what’s a M.A.P? “A Mexican American Princess,” Laurel explains, pissed off at the pejorative.”

17. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of multi-animator project; an animation created by several collaborating animators.
18. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of muscle action potential
19. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of mean arterial pressure

verb

1. (transitive)To represent by means of a map.

   “This large atlas maps the whole world in very great detail.”

   “Figure 3 maps the pressure distribution within the human circulatory system.”

2. (transitive)To create a map of; to examine or survey in order to gather information for a map.

   “The team is mapping the route of the new railway line.”

   “The space probe is mapping the Earth's gravitational field.”

   “To provide the surveys required for modernisation schemes on British Railways, extensive sections of line in the Home Counties are to be mapped from the air. […] The track will be photographed from 1,500 ft. to provide maps of a scale of about 104 ft. to 1 in.”

   “This equipment is designed to map the neurons of the human brain in three dimensions.”

3. (intransitive)To have a direct relationship; to correspond.

   “This doesn't map to my understanding of how things should work.”

   “Significantly, the aural-oral data does not map closely to the visual linguistic landscape at NIE.”

4. (transitive)To create a direct relationship to; to create a correspondence with.

   “Map "volume down" to the F2 key.”

5. (transitive)To act as a function on something, taking it to something else.

   “f maps A to B, mapping every a∈A to f(a)∈B.”

   “Equivalently: f:A→B,a↦f(a)”

6. (transitive)To assign a drive letter to a shared folder.