contortuplicate (kontortuplikat)

[L. contortuplicatus, reg. contortiplicatus, contour (kon-tör' or kon'tör), n. [F.contour (Sp. Pg. It. contorno ), circuit, circumference, outline, contourner = Sp. contornar = Pg.con tornear = It. con torn are, The magnetic action of a closed current is equal to that At kins on, tr. of Mascart and Joubert, I. 429. of a magnetic shell of the same contour. All her contours and all her movements betrayed a fine muscular development. O. W. Holmes, A Mortal Antipathy, i. Specifically-( a ) In the fine arts , a line or lines represent ing the outline of any figure. In the best polychromy great use is made of outlines or contours. O. N. Rood, Modern Chromatics, p. 311. (b) In fort ., the horizontal outline of works of defense. When the conformation of the ground or works is described by contours or horizontal sections, these sections are taken at some fixed vertical interval from each other suited to the scale of the drawing or the subject in hand; and the distances of the surface, at each interval, above or below some a umed plane of comparison, are given in figures at the most convenient places on the plan. (c) In surv., a curve of equal elevation on a map; a contour line. (d) In math . , a closed curve considered as inclosing an area. Area of a contour. See area . Syn. Pro file , etc. See outline . Gegenbaur, Comp. Anat. (trans.), p. 420. contouring (kon-tör'ing), n. [Verbal n. of con tour, v.] The act of forming or determining a contour or contour-line. See contour - line . In true contouring , regular horizontal lines, at fixed vertical intervals, are traced over a country, and plotted on to the maps. R. A. Proctor , Light Science, p. 280.