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

According to researchers, the uplink concept could be used to build future quantum networks across different geographies using small low-orbit satellites. —Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 10 Nov. 2025

The geography of real climate risk—which includes not just the effects of weather and disasters, but also the ability of communities to withstand them—looks roughly similar to the geographies of poverty and race. —Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025

How did so many great musical artists come from a geography as small as the Mississippi Delta? —Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 10 Nov. 2025

Beat the winter traffic—or ski-in without the crowds Some of Tahoe’s winter woes are caused by the region’s natural geography. —AFAR Media, 7 Nov. 2025

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

• arthrography
• biography
• cartography
• cosmography
• cryptography
• demography
• discography
• echography
• ethnography
• filmography
• hydrography
• lithography

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