geography

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English

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Etymology

From Middle French géographie, from Latin geōgraphia, from Ancient Greek γεωγραφία (geōgraphía, “a description of the earth”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”).

Use in reference to lavatories derives from the mid-20th century euphemism "show one the geography of the house" in reference to pointing out the toilets.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /dʒɪˈɒɡɹəfi/, /ˈdʒɒɡɹəfi/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /d͡ʒiˈɑɡɹəfi/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɒɡɹəfi
  • Hyphenation: ge‧og‧ra‧phy

Noun

geography (countable and uncountable, plural geographies)

  1. A description of the earth: a treatise or textbook on geography; (archaic) an atlas or gazetteer.
    • 2021, Mark Steyn, “Our Increasingly Unrecognizable Civilization”, in Imprimis, volume 50, number 4/5, Hillsdale College, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
      These days, instead of going off behind the bike shed during recess to learn about sex, kids need to sneak behind the bike shed to do a little bit of closeted geography or closeted Latin.
  2. The study of the physical properties of the earth, including how humans affect and are affected by them.
  3. Terrain: the physical properties of a region of the earth.
    • 1973, Helen Miller Bailey, Abraham Phineas Nasatir, Latin America: the development of its civilization
      The geography of the Andes approaches never made transportation easy; routes to Bogota, Quito, La Paz, and Cuzco were so precipitous as to slow down the development of those Spanish cities in the interior.
  4. Any subject considered in terms of its physical distribution.
  5. (astronomy) Similar books, studies, or regions concerning other planets.
  6. The physical arrangement of any place, particularly (UK, slang) a house.
  7. (chiefly upper-class UK, euphemistic) The lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.
    • 1967 December 21, The Listener, p. 802:
      The Business Man Jocular: ‘I say, where's the geography, old son?’
  8. (figuratively) The relative arrangement of the parts of anything.
  9. (chiefly business and marketing) A territory: a geographical area as a field of business or market sector.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Derived terms

Template:der-mid

Translations

See also

References

  • Oxford English Dictionary. "geography, n."
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