In mathematics, a set is a collection of distinct objects. Venn diagrams use closed curves to show how these collections intersect, contain, or exclude one another.

In set theory, this overlapping region is called the intersection. It contains only the elements that simultaneously belong to all of the intersecting groups.

Unlike Euler diagrams which only show existing relationships, a strict Venn diagram must depict all possible intersections between its sets, even if they are empty.

Venn introduced these visual aids in 1880 to help illustrate George Boole's algebraic logic system. He later popularized them in his 1881 book Symbolic Logic.