geography

noun

ge·​og·​ra·​phy jē-ˈä-grə-fē 

plural geographies

1

: a science that deals with the description, distribution, and interaction of the diverse physical, biological, and cultural features of the earth's surface

2

: the geographic features of an area

3

: a treatise on geography

4

a

: a delineation or systematic arrangement of constituent elements : configuration

The philosophers … have tried to construct geographies of human reason …

—Times Literary Supplement

b

: makeup sense 1

her emotional geography

Synonyms of geography

• topography
• landscape
• terrain

Examples of geography in a Sentence

studying the geography of the western United States

the geography of the region matches ancient descriptions of the location of the lost city

Recent Examples on the Web

Actual costs can vary significantly by veterinary clinic, pet size, dosage requirements and geography. — Reuters, NBC news, 5 Nov. 2026

Chingrir jol bora evokes the seafood-abundant geography of south Bangladesh. — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026

The league considered traditional rivalries, competitive fairness and geography, among other factors, in making those matchups. — ABC News, 4 Nov. 2026

Hélène was born into a world of Russian nobles in exile who transposed their aristocratic geography onto the suburbs of Paris (Meudon, where Hélène grew up, became Miedonsk) and whose Russophone children only began learning French at school. — Madeleine Wulfahrt, New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin geographia, from Greek geōgraphia, from geōgraphein to describe the earth's surface, from geō- + graphein to write — more at carve

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing geography

• dialect geography
• linguistic geography
• physical geography

Rhymes for geography

• angiocardiography
• electrocardiography
• arteriography
• autobiography
• biogeography
• cholangiography
• cinematography
• historiography
• photolithography
• photomicrography
• ultrasonography
• ventriculography

Kids Definition

geography

noun

ge·​og·​ra·​phy jē-ˈäg-rə-fē 

plural geographies

1

: a science that deals with the location of living and nonliving things on earth and the way they affect one another

2

: the natural parts of an area

the geography of the western U.S.

geographer

-fər

noun

geographic

ˌjē-ə-ˈgraf-ik

adjective

or geographical

-i-kəl

geographically

-i-k(ə-)lē

adverb