Data engineering·Modelling for analysis
the same date dimension is joined three times as order date, ship date and return date, and the report is unreadable until you alias them.
Role-playing dimension
Also calleddimension role, aliased dimension
One physical dimension joined multiple times to the same fact under different meanings. It is the standard treatment for dates and for people who appear as both requester and approver. The practical requirement is naming: exposing three clearly named views over the one table is what keeps a BI tool's field list comprehensible and stops an analyst joining the wrong one.