geography
Meaningearth writing
Common meaning: the study of the land, climate and peoples of the world
- geothe earth, landLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 307 · scan
- graphto scratch marks, hence to write or drawLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 317 · scan
- ynoun ending: study, state or act
‘the earth, land’ + ‘to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’ → geography
Journey through time
- geo — Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) “the earth, land” (path traced)
- graph — Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) “to scratch marks, hence to write or draw” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as geogra.
- Greekγῆ (gê) + γράφω (gráphō)‘the earth, land + to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’
- Latingeogra
- Old Frenchgeographiesource
- Englishgeography‘the study of the land, climate and peoples of the world’ · today
geo also in: geologyzoogeologyhydrogeology
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) ‘the earth, land’ + Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) ‘to scratch marks, hence to write or draw’.
Did you know (Geography, topography, photograph,…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry γράφω (gráphō), p. 317 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Greek ge, the…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry γῆ (gê), p. 307 · dictionary scan
Roots
- γράφω (gráphō) Ancient Greek “to scratch marks, hence to write or draw”
- γῆ (gê) Ancient Greek “the earth, land”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app