topography

English

WOTD – 22 January 2006

Etymology

First attested in 1432. From Middle English topographye, from Latin topographia, from Ancient Greek τοπογραφία (topographía), from τόπος (tópos, “place”) + γράφω (gráphō, “I write”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /təˈpɒɡɹəfi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /təˈpɑɡɹəfi/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: top‧og‧raphy
• Rhymes: -ɒɡɹəfi

Noun

topography (countable and uncountable, plural topographies)

1. A precise description of a place.
2. A detailed graphic representation of the surface features of a place or object.
3. The features themselves; terrain.
4. The surveying of the features.
5. (by extension) A figurative landscape; a structure of interrelated ideas, etc.
   • 2014, Rachel Lee Rubin, Well Met: Renaissance Faires and the American Counterculture, page 283:

     With good humor if predictably, the emotional topography of the faire facilitates a kind of liberation from both the closet and the cruelty of high school cliquedom.

Derived terms

• basin and range topography
• topograph
• topographer
• topographic
• topographical
• topographically
• topographic prominence

 

Translations

a precise description of a place

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Greek:

  Ancient: τοπογραφία f (topographía)

• Hungarian: topográfia (hu), helyrajz (hu)
• Icelandic: svæðislýsing f, staðfræði f
• Indonesian: topografi (id)
• Khmer: ឋានលេខន៍ (thanlékhn៍)

the features themselves (the terrain)

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: topografia f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 地形 (zh) (dìxíng), 地勢／地势 (zh) (dìshì)

• Danish: topografi (da) c
• Esperanto: topografio (eo)
• Finnish: topografia (fi)
• French: topographie (fr) f
• Galician: topografía (gl) f
• German: Topografie (de) f
• Greek: τοπογραφία (el) f (topografía)
• Hebrew: טוֹפּוֹגְרַפְיָה (he) f
• Indonesian: topografi (id)
• Irish: topagrafaíocht f
• Italian: topografia (it) f
• Japanese: 地勢 (ja) (ちせい, chisei), 地形 (ja) (ちけい, chikei)
• Kashubian: topògrafijô f
• Latvian: topogrāfija f
• Maori: āhua matawhenua, takoto o te whenua, takoto
• Polish: topografia (pl) f
• Portuguese: topografia (pt) f
• Russian: топогра́фия (ru) f (topográfija), релье́ф (ru) m (relʹjéf)
• Spanish: topografía (es) f
• Tagalog: kalatagan, talalatagan (science)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: topografi
• Ukrainian: топогра́фія f (topohráfija)
• Yiddish: טאָפּאָגראַפֿיע f (topografye)

See also

• topology
• toponym
• toponymic

Anagrams

• optography