Voxels

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small cube-shaped units that together make up a three-dimensional image or model, similar to pixels in a flat picture
2. The tiny volumetric elements forming a three-dimensional grid used to represent objects in computer graphics and medical imaging
3. Discrete cubic units of space arranged in a grid to depict solid objects in digital three-dimensional displays and scans

Etymology: "Voxels" is the plural of "voxel", a blend of "volumetric" and "pixel". The pixel came first: it is the picture element of a flat image, the small square that a screen or photograph is built from. "Volumetric" describes three-dimensional space, so the blend names the equivalent unit for a three-dimensional grid, a tiny cube of space that a 3D model or scan is assembled from. The word works by the same logic as the pixel. Just as a photograph is a grid of flat squares, a volumetric image is a grid of cubes, each carrying a value such as colour or density. A medical scan, a 3D game world and a geological survey can all be stored this way, with the cubes stacked to form solid shapes.