[ad. med.L. triangulātiōn-em (Abelard, a. 1142), n. of action from *triangulāre to TRIANGULATE. So F. triangulation (1835 in Dict. Acad.).] The action or process of triangulating.
1. The tracing and measurement of a series or network of triangles in order to survey and map out a territory or region.
1818. Blackw. Mag., III. 463. The English triangulation, begun by General Roy.
1826. T. Drummond, in Phil. Trans., CXVI. II. 334. Slieve Snaght, the highest hill of Innishowen, forms an important point in the triangulation, which connects the North of Ireland with the western islands of Scotland.
1863. A. C. Ramsay, Phys. Geog., xxxi. (1878), 550. The triangulation of Scotland for the Ordnance Survey.
1864. J. Hunter, Vogts Lect. Man, Index, Triangulation of the skull.
2. Division of a rectilinear figure into triangles.
1891. Cent. Dict., Triangulation, 1. A making triangular; formation into triangles.