panorama

pan·o·rama

noun \ˌpa-nə-ˈra-mə, -ˈrä-\

Definition of PANORAMA

1

a : cyclorama 1

b : a picture exhibited a part at a time by being unrolled before the spectator

2

a : an unobstructed or complete view of an area in every direction

b : a comprehensive presentation of a subject <a panorama of American history>

c : range

3

: a mental picture of a series of images or events

— pan·o·ram·ic \-ˈra-mik\ adjective

— pan·o·ram·i·cal·ly \-mi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Examples of PANORAMA

1. <we admired the breathtaking panorama from the top of the mountain>

Origin of PANORAMA

pan- + Greek horama sight, from horan to see — more at wary

First Known Use: 1796

Related to PANORAMA

Synonyms

command, lookout, outlook, view, perspective, prospect, vista

Related Words

landscape, scene, scenery; ken, sight; visual field

Rhymes with PANORAMA

Atacama, closet drama, docudrama, melodrama, monodrama, music drama, psychodrama, Sugiyama, Suriname

panorama

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Narrative scene or landscape painted to conform to a curved or flat background, which surrounds or is unrolled before the viewer. Popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries, it was an antecedent of the stereopticon and motion pictures. The true panorama is exhibited on the walls of a large cylinder, and the viewer stands on a platform in the cylinder's centre and turns around to see all points of the horizon. The first panorama, a view of Edinburgh, was executed in 1788 by the Scottish painter Robert Barker (1739–1806). In the mid-19th century the rolled panorama became popular: a painting on canvas was wound between two poles and slowly unrolled behind a frame or revealed in sections.