geographyn.
/dʒɪˈɒɡrəfi/, /ˈdʒɒɡrəfi/, U.S. /dʒiˈɑɡrəfi/ 1. A treatise on the physical features or characteristics of a region; a textbook on geography.
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c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica iv. 233 Agathargides Gnidius in his second boke of the faites of the Asians, and Archemidorus Ephesius in his viijth boke entitled Geographie [L. in octauo geographie libris], and dyuers other that dwelled in Egipt, they wrate bokes historious.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 5 Ptolomæus in his geographie defineth it in this sorte.
1611 J. Speed (title) The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine: presenting an exact geography of the kingdomes of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the iles adioyning.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iv. xi. 206 Strabo..hath largely condemned it as a fabulous story in the first of his Geographie.
1711 J. Bingham Origines Ecclesiasticæ III. ix. vi. 477 The other Catalogue in the Provinciale Romanum, published by Carolus a S. Paulo in the Appendix to his Geography, advances the number of Suffragans to Fifty Three.
a1854 E. Forbes Lit. Papers (1855) viii. 218 Districts, the accounts of which in our geographies are lamentably inaccurate and imperfect.
1882 Harper's Mag. Dec. 61/2 A high flat-topped peak..of the type of those we used to see in our geographies, rises out of it.
1933 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 53 (front matter) (advt.) A number of palaeographs..have been unearthed..such as for instance the geography of Ptolemy and other very valuable documents.
1971 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Sept. 228 (advt.) Asia, East by South... An unusual geography that immediately clarifies much of today's front-line news.
1988 T. Ferris Coming of Age in Milky Way (1989) i. iii. 56 Presumably he [sc. Columbus] had some reason other than the old geographies to think his voyage would succeed.
2.
a. The field of study concerned with the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and with human activity as it affects and is affected by these, including the distribution of populations and resources and political and economic activities; also as a subject of educational study or examination.economic, human, mathematical, physical, political geography, etc.: see the first element. See also macrogeography n., palaeogeography n., etc.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > [noun]
geographyc1540
geographics1610
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. iii. vi. f. xxviiiv/2 Of yis message send be August to the Britonis, writtis Strabo in his buk of geography callit the discriptioun of the erd.
1598 R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) I. Pref. sig. *4 Hauing..by the helpe of Geographie and Chronologie..referred ech particular relation to the due time and place.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vi. viii. 315 The City of Rome is magnified by the Latins to be the greatest of the earth; but time and Geography enforme us, that Cairo is bigger then ever it was. View more context for this quotation
a1680 J. Bargrave Pope Alexander VII (1867) ii. 128 The king learned armory, geography, and history.
1727 J. Arbuthnot Tables Anc. Coins 255 According to antient Fables the Argonauts..sail'd up the Danube, and from thence passed into the Adriatick, carrying their Ship Argo upon their Shoulders: a Mark of great Ignorance in Geography among the Writers of that time.
1874 A. H. Sayce Princ. Compar. Philol. viii. 315 Mythology has a setting in geography and history.
1931 Geogr. Jrnl. 77 573 The book holds one's interest and the story is racily told, but its contribution to geography is slight.
1952 G. H. Dury Map Interpr. i. 2 Maps..provide a synoptic view and, to the skilled interpreter, reveal the distributions and interrelations with which geography is peculiarly concerned.
2008 Geography 93 163/2 Recent findings from the QCA show that geography at A2-level is at least as challenging as any other subject.
b. The geographical features or topography of a place or region; a place or region, or terrain, as characterized by such features. Also: the range or extent of what is known geographically.
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the world > the earth > surface of the earth > [noun] > features of
geography1595
palaeogeography1881
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > [noun] > subject matter or knowledge
geography1595
1595 J. Davis Seamans Secrets i. sig. G1v And in the vse or vnderstanding of the Sea Chart there are fiue thinges cheefely to be regarded. The first is, that the Countries or geographie of the Chart be knowne, with euery Cape, Promontery, Port, Hauen, Bay, Sands, Rocks, and dangers therein contained.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 221 That Synods Geography was as ridiculous as a Cockneys (to whom all is Barbary beyond Brainford; and Christendome endeth at Greenwitch).
1737 Pope's Lett. Contents, Letter lxxxv. Of the Map of the Geography of Homer, done by the Author.
1764 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (1765) i. 5 From unacquaintedness with the geography of the country.
1784 J. Douglas Cook's Voy. Pacific II. iii. xii. 221 The islands in the Pacific Ocean, which our late voyages have added to the geography of the globe, have been generally found lying in groups and clusters.
1859 C. J. Lever Davenport Dunn i. 2 Science has been popularized, remote geographies made familiar, complex machinery explained.
1876 R. W. Emerson Resources in Lett. & Social Aims 125 We have seen the railroad and telegraph subdue our enormous geography.
1939 E. D. Laborde tr. E. de Martonne Shorter Physical Geogr. (rev. ed.) xvi. 241 Loess..plays an important part in the geography of Asia.
1947 College Eng. 8 308 The Wild Fig, the natural standard that grows everywhere, in all geographies, in all climates.
1953 Times 17 Sept. 11/2 It is virtually impossible for a stranger to decipher the geography of many industrial towns once the A-road has been left.
1986 J. Urquhart Whirlpool (1990) 24 The car had passed the city limits and was moving steadily down River road into a rougher geography.
1990 Current Hist. Nov. 389/1 The new Germany will also have a new geography. It will no longer be a front-line state with little strategic depth.
2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 20 May i. 15/2 The riverfront economy declined, and the river-locked geography thwarted industrial growth.
c. A subject treated or regarded in its geographical aspects; the geographical distribution of something.dialect, linguistic, plant geography, etc.: see the first element. See also biogeography n., phytogeography n., zoogeography n., etc.
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1642 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (new ed.) 2 There being a Geography of Religions as well as of Land.
1848 J. R. Beard People's Dict. of Bible II. 166/1 Lorenzo Hervas..made known 55 yet unmentioned American tongues.., adding valuable information respecting what may be termed the geography of languages.
1878 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 22 440 The African tropical flora undoubtedly affords indications..of the existence of very difficult problems in the study of its plant-geography.
1889 W. L. Snyder (title) The geography of marriage or legal perplexities of wedlock in the United States.
1920 I. C. LeCompte tr. J. Brunhes Human Geogr. xi. 576 There is certainly a geography of the insects, acaridans, rodents, etc., which transmit such diseases as malaria, yellow fever, or cholera.
1974 H. Johnson Wine (rev. ed.) 113 The new laws have reformed the geography of German wine.
3. Astronomy. The topographical features of a celestial object, esp. the moon or a rocky planet; a book about these; a field of study concerned with these.Cf. areography n. at areo- comb. form , selenography n.
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1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. ii. iii. 327 Kepler betwixt iest and earnest in his perspectiues, Lunar Geography..seemes in part to agree with this.
1715 W. Derham Astro-theol. Prelim. Disc. p. liv That a Reader unacquainted with the Geography of the Moon, may apprehend what I have said..concerning the Parts and Appearances of the Moon, I have represented them in Fig. 10. and 11.
1827 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 157 He will find studying geography, in such a way, that they comprehend it as vaguely as we do the geography of the moon.
1894 J. E. Gore tr. C. Flammarion Pop. Astron. i. iv. 116 Lunar geography is divided by latitudes (horizontal lines) and by longitude (vertical lines), as in terrestrial geography.
1956 Sci. News Let. 30 June 407/3 Variations in the size, color or position of this new region will be searched for carefully, since it represents the greatest change in Martian geography yet observed.
1997 J. Updike Toward End of Time 51 The moon's geography..has proved, now that we have walked upon it and photographed its pores, obdurately meaningless.
2011 K. M. D. Lane Geographies of Mars i. 13 This book is not really about Mars or even about Martian geography.
4. The physical arrangement of a building; the internal arrangement and location of the rooms, staircases, etc. the geography of the house: (a) (in same sense); (b) spec. (also the geography) the lavatory (colloquial and humorous).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > [noun] > internal arrangement of house
geography1718
1718 Free-thinker No. 94. 274 The Pleasure..would have proved a fruitless Toil to the wandering Lover, had he not been instructed by his Fairy Guide in the Geography of the Building.
1837 United Service Jrnl. Feb. 226 I was wholly unacquainted with the geography of the house.
1864 C. M. Yonge Trial II. xiii. 239 The little gentleman showed himself minutely acquainted with the whole geography of the house, knew all the rooms and pictures.
1920 ‘Sapper’ Bull-dog Drummond ii. 65 He wanted to get the geography of the house firmly imprinted on his mind.
1927 R. Graves Lars Porsena (ed. 2) 68 For a man to show a woman the way to the lavatory..an evasive phrase had to be used:..‘Have you been shown the geography of the house?’
1963 L. Meynell Virgin Luck v. 117 ‘That's the bathroom,’ she said, explaining the upstairs geography of the place, ‘with the loo just beyond it.’
1967 Listener 21 Dec. 802/2 The Business Man Jocular: ‘I say, where's the geography, old son?’
1990 Rail 12 July 40/1 The geography of the freight centre with its long sidings and loco holding sidings means that a large selection of exhibits can be accommodated.
5. A depiction or analysis of the way the constituent parts of something interact, or of their arrangement in relation to one another.
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1823 J. Taylor New Views Constit. U.S. xvi. 262 The geography of human nature sticks to a man like his skin, or travels with him like his shadow. Will he be flayed of this..by calling him a member of Congress?
1920 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 171/2 There is, of course, a geography of information, but it does not become educational until it is transformed into a geography of inspiration.
1949 G. Ryle Concept of Mind Introd. 8 To determine the logical geography of concepts is..to show with what other propositions they are consistent and inconsistent.
1987 W. Greider Secrets of Temple ii. vii. 231 When Sigmund Freud was first attempting to chart the geography of the human psyche, he kept encountering an outrageous association—money and excrement.
2009 J. A. Coyne Why Evol. is True iv. 95 Their evolutionary explanation of the geography of life, largely correct when first proposed, has only been refined and supported by a legion of later studies.
6. Originally and chiefly Business and Marketing. A geographical area or geopolitical entity as a distinct commercial sector. Cf. territory n.1 1f. Usually in plural.
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society > trade and finance > selling > [noun] > area covered by salesman or firm
outride1879
territory1898
test-market1958
geography1983
1983 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 20 May These pullouts from unprofitable geographies are part of the great evolutionary move toward more effective distributing and marketing.
1996 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) (Nexis) 26 July (Suppl.) 7 Country Select Funds are for more aggressive investors seeking to increase exposure to a specific geography or theme as part of a portfolio.
1999 L. Bryan et al. Race for World vi. 159 Specialists seeking to shape a microindustry globally will often need to act like integrators by acquiring other specialists in other geographies.
2004 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Mar. (Central ed.) a3/2 He did say that demand was a little weaker than expected in Asia and Japan, with other geographies more closely meeting the company's expectations.
Compounds
C1. General attributive (in sense 2), as geography book, geography class, geography master, etc.
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1782 T. Vaughan Fashionable Follies (new ed.) I. 84 His figure [was]..just such a one as it may be supposed heaven would bestow on a geography master.
1825 London Mag. Sept. 120 ‘There can be no reason,’ why she should not use elementary geography books by Goldsmith.
1857 J. Ruskin Arrows of Chace (1880) I. 42 Precision of touch should be cultivated by map-drawing in his geography class.
1881 S. Saville Civil Service Coach vii. 138 The number of marks obtained in the Geography examinations is always very small.
1922 S. E. Davis Technique of Teaching vii. 325 A geography textbook widely used fifty years ago contains thousands of map questions.
1978 D. Marechera House of Hunger 64 He was always taking the geography master to task about his ironic comments about the primitive state of Africa's roads.
1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 31 Mar. d2 (heading) Geography bee set for Friday.
2002 C. Williams Sugar & Slate 141 It looked like a mock-up model you might see on a table in the corner of the geography class.
C2.
geography lesson n.
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1822 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Apr. 478/2 How often do you answer questions?.. Every Geography lesson, Sir?
1883 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-boy ix. 47 They remembered that the geography lesson was a hard one, and so they played ‘hookey’.
1936 Pop. Mech. Aug. 239/1 Students at an English school ‘plug in’ for their geography lessons, using an electric map instead of the conventional globe.
1995 P. Conroy Beach Music (1996) xxii. 380 I..pointed toward the sea islands..and then pointed in the general direction of Italy. Leah seemed uninterested in this geography lesson.
geography professor n.
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1929 T. Alexander & B. Parker New Educ. in German Republic iv. 62 It was the custom for enthusiastic geography professors to take their classes on field trips lasting several days.
1950 Southern Econ. Jrnl. 16 494 Many American geography professors would do well to study the technique.
2010 M. Meade Lonelyhearts xxii. 294 The man who breaks the casino is a geography professor who deliberately calculates the effect of river waves on the roulette wheel.
geography teacher n.
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1850 Christian Secretary 17 May 1/4 These learned geography teachers and world enlighteners..disagree among themselves.
1911 Bull. Amer. Geogr. Soc. 43 214 The book is not suited for instruction but geography teachers will find it enjoyable and of use.
2008 Z. Smith in New Yorker 22 Dec. 88/2 A rather shy, whimsical young comedian from Yorkshire who looks like a beardy cross between a fisherman and a geography teacher.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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