Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Tessellate \Tes"sel*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tessellated}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Tessellating}.] [L. tessellatus tessellated.
   See {Tessellar}.]
   To form into squares or checkers; to lay with checkered work.

         The floors are sometimes of wood, tessellated after the
         fashion of France.                       --Macaulay.