Linemost

Linemost is a term used in mathematics, computer science, and data visualization to describe a salient property of lines in a diagram or dataset. The term is not uniformly defined across disciplines, but it is commonly used to denote either the maximum line concurrency in a given configuration or the most prominent line in a plotted series, depending on context.

In combinatorial geometry, linemost refers to the maximum number k such that there exists a point through which at least k lines of a specified set pass. This is equivalent to the maximum intersection multiplicity at a point. For a set of n lines in general position, linemost is typically small; higher values indicate a high degree of concurrency.

In data visualization, linemost is used to refer to the line in a multi-line chart that is deemed most visually prominent or most representative of the current data window. Prominence is often defined by line width, color contrast, or by a metric like maximum value within the displayed range.

Computing linemost for a line arrangement entails finding intersection points and counting coincident lines, or, in visualization, applying a predefined prominence criterion to each series. The concept highlights how line-based representations emphasize certain lines over others and can influence interpretation of the data or diagram.

See also: line concurrency, line arrangement, visual prominence, line of best fit.