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

The Beverly Center, with its futuristic, Pompidou-style escalator on the outside, was at least as important in my childhood geography as the Hollywood sign. —Chris Wallace, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2025

In a world of ever-expanding and changing product portfolios, new service lines, new customers and new geographies, keeping up with the creation of knowledge to help customers help themselves, empower agents and enable AI agents is no small task. —Adrian Swinscoe, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025

The ethnic geography of Gujarat was transformed, with most of its Muslims crowded into slums. —Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025

Its geography also accounted for enormous challenges after the heavy bombing of the Second World War, including the rise of containerisation, because the Mersey simply wasn’t big enough to accommodate ships increasing in size. —Simon Hughes, New York Times, 28 Apr. 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