frame of reference

1. 1.

   a system that uses coordinates to establish position

   Synonymscoordinate systemreference systemreference frame

   Broaderarrangement

   NarrowerCartesian coordinate systeminertial reference framespace-time

   Partscoordinate axis
2. 2.

   a system of assumptions and standards that sanction behavior and give it meaning

   Synonymsframe

   Broadersystem

   Narrowervocabulary

Questions about frame of reference

What does frame of reference mean?

frame of reference means "a system that uses coordinates to establish position". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for frame of reference?

Close synonyms include coordinate system, reference system, reference frame, frame. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is frame of reference a common word?

frame of reference is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.