a piece of text, a drawing, etc., represented, as on a computer display, by the activation of certain dots in a rectangular matrix of dots.
Also, bit map.
Related forms
bitmapped, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for bitmaps
bitmap
/ˈbɪtˌmæp/
noun (computing)
1.
a picture created on a visual display unit where each pixel corresponds to one or more bits in memory, the number of bits per pixel determining the number of available colours
verb -maps, -mapping, -mapped
2.
(transitive) to create a bitmap of
Word Origin and History for bitmaps
bitmap
n.
1973, in computer jargon, from bit (n.2) + map. Literally, a map of bits.
bitmaps in Science
bitmap
(bĭt'māp') Computer Science A set of bits that represents a graphic image. Each bit or group of bits corresponds to a pixel in the image. Optical scanners and fax machines convert text or pictures into bitmaps.