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Well attestedNamed from the place

Manhattan distance

noun · first attested 20th century

A distance metric named for a street plan you cannot cut diagonally across.

The distance between two points measured as the sum of the differences along each axis, as though travel were confined to a grid.

Manhattan·United States

40.7283°N -73.9942°W · Q11299

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Named from the place
Confidence
Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
Attested
20th century
Part of speech
noun

Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.

How it traveled
  1. Step 1

    Manhattan

  2. In English

    Manhattan distance

The entry

It is also called taxicab geometry, because a cab in a gridded city drives the blocks rather than the straight line between two addresses. Manhattan's 1811 grid made the picture obvious, even though Broadway cuts across it at an angle.

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