oceanographyn.
/ˌəʊʃəˈnɒɡrəfi/, U.S. /ˌoʊʃəˈnɑɡrəfi/ The branch of science concerned with the physical and biological properties and phenomena of the ocean. Cf. oceanology n.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > hydrography > [noun] > oceanography
oceanography1859
oceanology1864
thalattology1874
thalassography1888
1859 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (new ed.) xx. 330 ‘Text-book of Oceanography for the Use of the Imperial Naval Academy’, by Dr. August Jilek, Vienna, 1857.
1884 Athenæum 23 Aug. 242/3 Prof. Dittmar contrives to discuss incidentally a number of questions of the deepest interest in connexion with oceanography.
1931 H. B. Bigelow Oceanogr. i. 8 The growth of an economic demand that oceanography afford practical assistance to the sea fisheries.
1955 Sci. News Let. 27 Aug. 142/1 Explorers of the ocean depths have been turning up so many new peaks, ridges, basins, seamounts and other underwater landmarks that naming them all has become a major problem in the flourishing science of oceanography.
1970 D. A. Ross Introd. Oceanogr. i. 3 Most oceanographers have divided oceanography into four main parts: (1) chemical oceanography; (2) biological oceanography; (3) physical oceanography; and (4) marine geology and geophysics.
1991 New Scientist 6 Apr. 35/1 Even remote sensing projects, such as the Okean series of oceanography satellites, have been similarly pruned.
1992 J. Hamilton-Paterson Seven-tenths i. i. 7 It was actually World War I..which encouraged sonar technology and in so doing gave the biggest boost to modern oceanography.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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