A map is a diagram of a place, showing roads and highways and natural features like lakes, rivers, and mountains. When your dad stops the car, sighs, and pulls out his map, you are probably lost.
As more and more people rely on electronic devices to get directions, the art of reading a map is becoming lost. A map can illustrate roads, stars in the galaxy, or even the genes in a human chromosome. When you map something, you sketch it or plan the route or steps you will take, like mapping out your future. A Latin root of map is mappa, or "napkin," as in something you'd sketch a map on.