Mind map glossary

A boundary is a closed shape drawn around a topic or a run of neighbouring sibling topics in a mind map to group them visually, with an optional title.

A brace map is a diagram that shows a whole on one side and splits it into parts and sub-parts with curly braces, usually reading from left to right.

Brainstorming is a technique for producing a large number of ideas on a topic, alone or in a group, before any of them is judged or chosen.

The central topic is the single topic at the middle of a mind map, the subject that every branch and subtopic in the map belongs to.

A concept map is a diagram of concepts joined by labelled links that read as statements, such as "plants make glucose", and it can be a network with no single centre.

A fishbone diagram is a cause-and-effect diagram that puts a problem at the head of a fish skeleton and groups its possible causes on bones branching from a central spine.

A floating topic is a topic placed freely on a mind map canvas, not connected to the central topic or to any branch.

A knowledge map is a diagram that lays out the topics of a subject or the knowledge held by a person or team, organised so you can see what is covered and what is missing.

A logic chart is a mind map structure in which the central topic sits at one side and every branch extends in a single direction, so the map reads from left to right or right to left.

A main branch is a topic attached directly to the central topic of a mind map, and it heads one major part of the subject with its own subtopics below it.

A Markdown outline is an outline written in Markdown, using headings or indented list items so that each line becomes a topic under the line above it.

A matrix diagram is a table-like diagram that arranges topics in rows and columns, so each cell holds the item that sits where a row and a column meet.

A mind map is a diagram that puts one idea in the centre and arranges related ideas around it as branches, with the details of each branch nested under it.

OPML is an XML-based file format for outlines, used by many outliners, feed readers and mind map tools to exchange nested lists of text.

An org chart structure is a layout in which the central topic sits at the top and each level of branches runs below it in rows, like a reporting chart.

An outline is a list of items arranged in levels, with each indented item belonging to the item above it, so the whole reads from top to bottom.

Radial thinking is the habit of starting from one idea and branching out to every related idea around it, rather than following a single line of reasoning.

A relationship line is a line, often with arrowheads and a label, drawn between any two topics in a mind map to show a connection that is not part of the branch structure.

A spider diagram is a diagram with a topic in the middle and related ideas on lines around it, like the legs of a spider, and is closely related to a mind map.

A subtopic is a topic placed under another topic in a mind map, holding one detail, example or part of the idea above it.

A summary topic is a topic joined by a bracket to a range of sibling topics in a mind map, giving a single conclusion or label for the whole range.

A timeline diagram is a diagram that places events, phases or milestones along a line in the order they happen, with details attached to each point.

A tree chart is a diagram of a hierarchy in which one root splits into branches, which split again, drawn in a vertical or horizontal layout.

An .xmind file is a mind map document saved in the format of the XMind app, holding the topics, structure, styling and notes of one or more sheets.