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

• chorography
• geomorphology
• landscape
• terrain
• topography

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

Money managers who obeyed the financial industry’s age-old wisdom to divide investments across markets and geographies are on an epic losing streak versus those who simply bought the S&P 500 and sat still. —Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 10 June 2024

Governors and other leaders drew on surveys of Americans, including by age, race, ethnicity, and geography, to understand, for example, the causes of vaccine hesitancy to increase the effectiveness of our messaging and messengers. —Asa Hutchinson, STAT, 6 June 2024

The Border Patrol divides the nation into 20 sectors by geography, and nine of them are on the border with Mexico. —Jonathan Wolfe Mark Abramson, New York Times, 4 June 2024

Still, there’s no guarantee that a gay resort will spring from such geography. —June Thomas, TIME, 31 May 2024

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

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