Sitemap

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A list or diagram that maps out the pages of a website for search engines and visitors ; a visual outline showing how the site's content is arranged and linked
2. An XML or visual file that catalogs every page on a website so it can be indexed ; a chart displaying how a site's sections and pages are organized
3. A structured index of a website's pages that helps search engines crawl it ; a graphic layout showing the hierarchy and connections between its content

Etymology: "Sitemap" is a compound of "site" and "map," and the first part is itself a clipping. "Site" here is a shortening of "website," so the word literally means a map of a website: a diagram listing the pages of a site and how they connect. The two words were joined as a noun, and the spelling settled into one word, which is also commonly written as two words, "site map." The surprising part is that the "site" in question is not the ordinary noun for a place. It is a newer sense, drawn from the much longer word "website," which itself came from "web" plus "site." Clipping a long compound to its most distinctive element is a common pattern in English, and it is why a word about the internet is built from a term meaning a piece of ground.