Rasters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A grid of pixels where each pixel is represented by a color value, commonly used in digital imaging
2. A method of displaying images on a grid format, allowing developers to manage image resolution and details
3. An array of rows and columns in graphics that defines the color and intensity of the displayed visual information

Etymology: "Rasters" is simply the plural of "raster," so the origin is that of the singular noun. The surprising part is the path it took: the word came into English from German "Raster," which in turn was borrowed from Latin "rāster," the same word that meant "rake." That Latin word came from "rādō," "to scrape," so a tool for gathering or smoothing by scraping lies at its root. The jump from garden tool to digital screen runs through the German sense of a ruled grid or screen, used for printing and drawing. The imagery of parallel lines laid out in regular rows, like the tines of a rake, carried over into the idea of scanning a surface line by line, which is what a raster display does.