mosaic
n. countablen. a picture or pattern made by putting together small pieces of colored stone, glass, or tile.
n. a decorative design or image created by assembling small, polychromatic fragments of glass, stone, or ceramic. Often used figuratively to describe a collection of diverse elements that form a unified whole.
The floor of the old church has a beautiful mosaic.
Archaeologists discovered a Roman mosaic depicting a hunting scene beneath the modern city street.
The city's culture is a vibrant mosaic of different traditions, languages, and cuisines that have blended over centuries of migration.
From Middle French mosaïque, moysaique, and its source, post-classical Latin Mosaicus (5th century), from Latin Moses.
Countable when referring to a specific artwork; often used with 'of' in figurative contexts ('a mosaic of ideas').