mind map

See also: mindmap

English

Hand-drawn mind map

Alternative forms

• mindmap, mind-map

Etymology

Popularized by English author and educational consultant Tony Buzan in the 1970s.

Noun

mind map (plural mind maps)

1. A diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea.
   • 2006 April 18, Philip Beadle, “Mind maps: rubbish in theory, but handy in practice”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Mind maps have all the seductiveness of popular science. When we have mastered them, we feel as if we are in possession of a precious secret known only to the select few million who have purchased a book by their progenitor, Tony Buzan. And they come with some grand claims: mind maps "help make your life easier and more successful", says Buzan in How to Mind Map.

Translations

diagram

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 思维导图 (sīwéidǎotú)

• Czech: myšlenková mapa f
• Finnish: käsitekartta
• French: carte heuristique (fr) f
• German: Mindmap (de) f or n
• Polish: mapa myśli f
• Portuguese: mapa mental m
• Swedish: tankekarta (sv) c, mindmap (sv) c

Verb

mind map (third-person singular simple present mind maps, present participle mind mapping, simple past and past participle mind mapped)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To create a mind map (around a topic).
   • 2006 April 18, Philip Beadle, “Mind maps: rubbish in theory, but handy in practice”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     I mind mapped this article before writing it. It would be interesting to find out whether regular readers notice any rinse in quantity. Mind mapping is easy.

See also

• associogram
• clustering
• concept map