a map designed to assist navigation by air or sea
"The captain consulted the old paper chart before steering the ship through the narrow channel at night."
A map.
"I consulted an old chart to find the safest route through the foggy bay."
A map illustrating the geography of a specific phenomenon.
"The explorer spread out the chart to reveal the hidden currents and underwater topography of the uncharted bay."
In plain English: A chart is a visual display of information that uses lines, bars, or pictures to show how numbers or data compare to each other.
"The sales chart shows that our company is growing every month."
Usage: Use "chart" as a noun to refer to a diagram or graph that displays data visually, such as a line chart or bar chart. Do not use it to mean a map, which shows geographical features and locations.
To draw a chart or map of.
"The surveyor spent the afternoon charting the coastline to create an accurate nautical map for local fishermen."
In plain English: To chart something means to map out its path or track how it changes over time.
"We need to chart our course carefully before sailing into the storm."
Usage: Use "chart" to mean plotting a course on a map or recording data in a graph. Do not use it when you simply want to say something is rising or increasing, as that requires a different verb like "climb" or "rise."
The word "chart" comes from the Ancient Greek khártēs, meaning a thin sheet or papyrus. It traveled into English through Middle French as charte before evolving to mean a map or diagram.