patterning

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of pattern

noun

1. A pattern; the production of a pattern; the process of forming a pattern.
   […] the tesseræ will form patterns which for us are wholly meaningless, yet the patterning in every case is equally specific and inevitable, implying the pattern above it, implied in that below[…] 1905, William Hurrell Mallock, The Reconstruction of Belief, page 151
   Any system of geometric patterning that covers or fills a surface using a finite set of shapes is considered tiling in a mathematical sense. 2015, Kim Williams, Michael J. Ostwald, Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future, page 460
2. Emulation, following as a model; frequently with after.
   When it is serious it leads to a copying after the manners and personal habits of elders, and a patterning after the style of dress in those whom the children admire. 1916, H.W. Nutt, “Genetic psychology of suggestion as a factor in human behavior”, in Teacher’s Journal, page 793
   His name became synonymous with God himself. Therefore, to be called by his name involved an inseparable commitment to a patterning after his life and a confession of his being. 2001, Douglas Webster, A Passion for Christ, page 66
3. (UK, slang, neologism, uncountable) An assault or act of humiliation that is deliberately filmed to be shared on social media.
   Coordinate term: happy slapping
   It was a video posted on Snapchat showing an attack called "patterning" that was the catalyst in a chain of events that led to Olly losing his life. Thames Valley Police explained that patterning is the humiliation of a young person which is filmed or photographed and then shared on social media. It's forwarded on and on, shared across different social media sites, multiplying the embarrassment for the victim. 20 June 2022, Marianna Spring, A social media murder: Olly's story
   Filming such violence and humiliation, and then sharing it online, has become known by the term "patterning" - with the aim of embarrassing victims even further by forwarding the videos across the web. 1 September 2022, Ed Thomas, Child assaults: ‘If the police won’t do their job, we’ll do it for them’