Relation:multilinestring
 multilinestring
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| Description |
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A discontiguous series of unclosed ways that semantically represents a single physical object. 
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| Group: properties |
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Status: in use
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| Tools for this tag |
A relation tagged type=multilinestring is a discontiguous series of unclosed ways that semantically represents a single physical object.
Rationale
This relation type is named by analogy with multipolygon relations. The term "MultiLineString" comes from the Simple Features specification, an ISO/OGC standard, which also defines the terms "MultiPolygon" and "LineString". The type=multilinestring tag has been included in two separate proposals, Proposed features/Multilinestring and Relations/Proposed/boundary segment.
When to use
This relation type is used when a single physical object would qualify as a multipolygon, except that it covers no area because it consists of linear features (unclosed ways). For example, some mappers use multilinestring relations when micromapping geoglyphs (man_made=geoglyph) that resemble written text.
Do not use this relation type for a collection of independent linear features just because they are thematically related, because relations are not categories.
Tags to use in combination
inscription=*for the text that the multilinestring spells out
Members
The overwhelming majority of uses of this relation type have members with empty roles.
Software support
As of January 2026, no major OpenStreetMap data consumer is known to recognize multilinestring relations. Any feature represented as a multilinestring is completely ignored. A tagged member way may appear in data consumers in its own right as a distinct feature from the multilinestring. This is largely a moot point in OSM because multilinestring features such as geoglyphs are rarely supported in the first place.
See also
- Relation:multipolygon - analogous representation for MultiPolygons
- Relation:route - like multilinestring but contiguous, forming a route that can be followed from end to end
- Relation:site - a more general-purpose relation type for all the features that form a single site, regardless of geometry type
- Relation:collection - a more general-purpose relation type that violates the relations are not categories principle