A chord diagram is a data visualization that shows relationships and flow between entities using a circular layout. Entities are placed around the perimeter of a circle as arcs, and ribbons connecting arcs represent the magnitude of flow or relationship strength between entity pairs. The parameters are: (1) the entity set and their arc positions, (2) the adjacency matrix encoding pairwise flows, and (3) the ribbon width proportional to flow magnitude. It persists through interactive visualization libraries and charting frameworks that render the circular arc-and-ribbon geometry from structured relational data. [formal: chorda | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.14]
Accepted ontology entry
chord diagram
A chord diagram is a data visualization that shows relationships and flow between entities using a circular layout. Entities are placed around the perimeter of a circle as arcs, and ribbons connecting arcs represent the magnitude of flow o…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A chord diagram is a human-made diagrammatic representation that shows interconnections between entities as colored arcs connecting labeled nodes arranged in a circle. Built for visualizing flows, relationships, and network topology in fields such as biology, transportation, and social sciences. Persists through diagrammatic convention, academic publication, and software libraries.
Names and aliases
- chord diagramen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrxqh5nw03vksoac1tgfpgi9INSTANCE_OF →
chord diagram IS a specific kind of chart — a circular chart showing relationships between data pairs. Competent speakers call chord diagrams 'charts.'
- cmrwtg97a01absoac34g3i9jmDEPENDS_ON →
Test: remove graph data (nodes and relationships) — chord diagram stops operating entirely. A chord diagram IS a visualization of connections within a graph; without graph structure there is nothing to render. Present-tense dependency, not historical.
- cmrwuadcq01dksoacknd5l8nlSERVES →
A chord diagram visualizes connections and flows within a dataset — its purpose is to make relational data visible, serving data visualization.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 23, 2026, 5:57 AM UTC
- Content hash
- d7c9b62d0b503b5d11655483962658ad2a91599c7d19704b9e40108d0ab3a5ca