50 words for map

Inspired by the bizarre new Kate Bush/Stephen Fry collaboration "50 words for snow" I thought it about time to revisit that old problem of creating a taxonomy for maps. It's never been easy but historically we used to be able to define a map by general function (general purpose, reference, thematic...), scale (small, medium, large...) or type (choropleth, dot density..) though clearly any single map can fall into multiple categories.

This diagram used to provide quite a neat illustration of how we might categorize types of maps but I feel it no longer works as new forms of map, new map-makers and new mapping techniques emerge. I'm convinced some of the newer terms are unnecessary when perfectly good terms already exist but progress in anything is often accompanied by a shift in terminology...and here's where I need your help as I look for 50 words for maps.

I'll start the ball rolling with a list of words that we often see used to describe a map or which are used in conjunction with the word 'map'. It's a mix of traditional, common use and vendor-specific terminology. What I hope to achieve is a crowd-sourced lexicon from which I can begin to put together a new taxonomy that better reflects how we see maps today...hopefully with some definitions.

Please feel free to add comments below (or send me a tweet @kennethfield) to add to the list or offer your definitions. Alternatively, if you know of other attempts to categorize maps then please let me know. Thanks in advance!

General purpose MAP | Reference MAP | Thematic MAP | Topographic MAP | Chart | Plan | Small-scale MAP | Medium-scale MAP | Large-scale MAP | Web MAP | MAP Sandwich | Online MAP | BaseMAP | Google MAP | OpenStreetMAP | Mental MAP | Qualitative MAP | Quantitative MAP | Single-variable MAP | Multi-variable MAP | Intelligent MAP | World MAP | Campus MAP | Schematic MAP | Flow MAP
Choropleth MAP | Dot Density MAP | Proportional Symbol MAP | Tangible MAP | Non-tangible MAP | Virtual MAP | Animated MAP | Mashup | Ubiquitous MAP | Print MAP | GIS MAP | Sketch MAP | Atlas | Community MAP | Crowd-sourced MAP | Land Use MAP | Risk MAP | Transport MAP | Heat MAP | Hot Spot MAP| Cartogram | Visualization | World MAP | Infographic | Terrestrial/Cellestial MAP | Globe | Dynamic MAP | Recreational MAP | Space-time MAP | Temporal MAP | Space-time cube | Time-aware MAP | Cartoon MAP | Jigsaw MAP | Subway MAP | Tube MAP | Land use MAP