groundplans

Noun

groundplan (plural groundplans)

1. A diagram showing the physical layout of a set, especially the placement of structures on the stage, as opposed to items on the walls or suspended from the ceiling.
   • In some cases, coordination between the lighting and scene designer may result in a preliminary scenic groundplan that indicates not only all of the scenic and masking information, but temporary lighting positions as well.2013, Steven Louis Shelley, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, →ISBN
2. A diagram, usually to scale, showing the layout of the ground level of a building or other physical structure; floorplan.
   • Here the destruction is even more complete, and it was very difficult to trace the original groundplan.2005, Peter Willey, The Eagle's Nest: Ismaili Castles in Iran and Syria, →ISBN, page 138
3. A framework or pattern showing the form of something, without all the details.
   • A certain groundplan of Human Nature and Life began to fashion itself in me ; wondrous enough, now when I look back on it ; for my whole Universe, physical and spiritual, was as yet a Machine ! However, such a conscious, recognised groundplan, the truest I had, was beginning to be there, and by...1836, Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus
4. (evolutionary theory) A hypothetical anatomical form from which members of a clade are adaptations.
   • A somewhat detailed, and largely innovative reconstruction of the groundplan of hexapod integumental structure has been worked out by Kukalova-Peck (1991, 1994, 1997, this volume).1997, Richard A. Fortey, Richard H. Thomas, Arthropod Relationships, →ISBN, page 283