What term is used to refer to spatial features that have common interior points?

The term "overlaps" is specifically used in spatial analysis to describe the relationship between two or more spatial features that share a portion of their interior space. This means that if you have two polygons, for example, and they intersect in such a way that both possess common interior points, they are said to overlap. This concept is crucial in various fields, including GIS, urban planning, and environmental studies, where understanding the interaction between different geographic features is essential for analysis and decision-making.

In contrast, other terms like "crosses," "touches," and "connects" describe different spatial relationships. "Crosses" typically indicates a scenario where one feature passes through another without implying shared interior points. "Touches" refers to features that meet or border each other at their boundaries but do not share any interior space. "Connects" does not specifically denote a spatial relationship involving shared interior points, rather it suggests a linkage in a more general sense, often used to describe linear features. Thus, "overlaps" is the most accurate term for features that share common interior points.