Robert Carter Aug 27, 2017:

@Charles Google images is a fantastic resource, but you're clearly right about "climograph" being a broader term that can encompass other types of chart as well. As you say, if this is a paper that will be read by academics in the field, they will probably understand "ombrothermic diagram" anyway.

Charles Davis Aug 27, 2017:

I must admit I hadn't considered the format question. It's true that there are a number of graphics labelled "climograph" that look like what the question describes and plot temperature and precipitation in that way. So perhaps you're right.

Robert Carter Aug 27, 2017:

Me too! Thanks for the clarification.

Charles Davis Aug 27, 2017:

@Robert Our messages crossed. Now I understand what you were getting at.

Charles Davis Aug 27, 2017:

@Robert First, having taken another look I am still happy that "ombrothermic" is used by enough native English-speaking scientists to make it an acceptable option here, though I myself would use hythergraph. Phil's statement "it gets almost no hits in a native English context" is untrue. It doesn't get very many, I admit, but we are dealing with specialised material here.

I don't know why you say "hythergraph is something slightly different". We want a word for a diagram that plots temperature against rainfall. Although the American Meteorological Society says that a hythergraph plots temperature and precipitation or humidity, its definition seems to give primacy to precipitation, and everywhere else that I've looked a hythergraph is defined as a diagram plotting temperature and precipitation (rainfall).

Definitions of "climograph" vary. I've quoted the Oxford one, which is very specific: temperature and humidity (Merriam-Webster defines it thus as well). Elsewhere it's defined as any climatic diagram; the American Met. Society says it's a diagram that plots two or more climatic variables. So as I said before it's either wrong or too general, depending on who you believe.

Robert Carter Aug 27, 2017:

@Charles Just to clarify: from what I can gather, the hythergraph appears to be two plotted line graphs of rainfall and average temp., whereas the climograph or climate diagram looks like a combination line and bar chart showing the average minimum and maximum temperature, that's why I think it's slightly different. I suppose we need a meteorologist's input to know what the usual lingo is, and whether "ombrothermic diagram" is a familiar or obscure term.

Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia page for "climograma":
Un climograma es un gráfico en el que se representan las precipitaciones y las temperaturas de un lugar en un determinado período (habitualmente un año y por periodos mensuales y por medias mensuales). También puede denominarse diagrama climático, ombrograma o diagrama ombrotérmico.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climograma

Beyond that, you lost me at interlingual determinologisation, I'm afraid :), but I'm sure "climate diagram/chart" would be widely understood in any context, especially if it is the title of the diagram or chart directly below it.
Saludos!

Helena Chavarria Aug 27, 2017:

@Charles 'Determinologisation' needs a bit of practise! It reminds me of when I learnt how to say 'independientemente'.

Charles Davis Aug 27, 2017:

I learned the word "determinologisation" the other day, and here's an opportunity to use it :)

Charles Davis Aug 27, 2017:

This is probably a type of text in which interlingual determinologisation with a hypernym (as the Translation Studies people call it) would be inappropriate.

Charles Davis Aug 27, 2017:

ombrothermic graph / diagram ...is perfectly OK, and is what this is (yes, it's a typo). Several instances here, in a scientific paper from Univ. of N. Dakota, for example:
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/archive/dickinso/grassland/ombroth.h...

It's also known as a hythergraph:
http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?la...

"hythergraph
A plot of monthly rainfall against monthly temperature over a year. See climograph."
From Oxford Dictionary of Geography.
http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199231...

A climograph turns out to be "a line graph of monthly average temperature against average humidity". This dictionary doesn't seem to list "ombrothermic". Maybe it's used more in America?

Anyway, "climate graph / diagram" is too general, I think. After all, a climograph is also a climate graph, but this is not a climograph but a hythergraph.

Robert Carter Aug 27, 2017:

Yes, I'm with you on this, Phil, this looks like translationese: Google says there are 14k+ results for "ombrothermic", but actually there are only 200+

I would go with "climate chart" or "climate diagram" instead.

philgoddard Aug 27, 2017:

It also depends on the context - you wouldn't use "ombrothermic" in a text for the general reader.

Elizabeth Novesky (asker) Aug 27, 2017:

Thanks, I did try that first but nothing came up at all.

philgoddard Aug 27, 2017:

It's a good idea to Google terms before you post them, since it often prompts you with the correct spelling and a translation, in this case ombrotérmico and ombrothermic. I'm not sure if the latter is translationese or a real word.