# geography

Pronunciation: say "jee-OG-ruh-fee" US /d͡ʒiˈɑɡɹəfi/, UK /dʒiˈɒɡɹəfi/

## Noun

1. The study of the earth's physical features and of the ways people both shape them and are shaped by them.
   - Simple: The study of the earth, its land, water, and weather, and how people live on it.
   - _He earned a degree in geography before joining an urban planning firm._
   - _Geography helps explain why cities tend to grow along rivers and coastlines._
2. The physical features and terrain of a particular region of the earth.
   - Simple: The land, hills, rivers, and other natural features of a place.
   - _Norway's rugged geography forces highways through long tunnels and over high bridges._
   - _The geography of the basin, ringed by mountains, traps polluted air over the city._
3. Any subject considered in terms of how it is spread across physical space.
   - Simple: The way something is spread out across different places.
   - _The book traces the geography of jazz from New Orleans clubs to Chicago studios._
   - _Economists study the geography of innovation, asking why startups cluster in certain cities._
4. The relative arrangement of the parts of anything, whether physical or abstract.
   - Simple: The way the parts of something are arranged or fit together.
   - _Critics have mapped the geography of the novel, tracing where its plotlines intersect._
   - _Anyone navigating the geography of corporate power soon learns which offices actually make decisions._
5. The physical arrangement or layout of a place, especially, in British slang, the layout of a house.
   - Simple: The way a place is laid out, such as where its rooms or paths are.
   - _Nurses new to the ward spend their first shift learning its geography._
   - _Let me show you the geography of the house. The kitchen is through there._
6. A region or territory treated as a field of business or a market sector.
   - Simple: An area of the world where a company does business or sells its products.
   - _Revenue grew in every geography except Latin America last quarter._
   - _The firm reorganized its sales force by geography rather than by product line._
7. The study, description, or surface features of a planet other than the earth.
   - Simple: The study or the surface features of another planet.
   - _Orbital mapping has transformed our knowledge of the geography of Mars._
   - _Radar surveys through Venus's clouds revealed a geography of volcanic plains and highland plateaus._
8. A polite, indirect word for the lavatory, used chiefly in upper-class British speech.
   - Simple: A polite word for the bathroom or toilet.
   - _Forgive me. Might I trouble you for directions to the geography?_
   - _He excused himself to visit the geography before the port was served._

## Noun

9. A treatise or textbook giving a description of the earth and its regions. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A book that describes the earth, its countries, and its people.
   - _Every parlor shelf in the village held a hymnal, an almanac, and a geography._
   - _Travelers of that era consulted geographies that mixed careful observation with pure legend._
10. An atlas or gazetteer; a reference volume of maps or place names. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A book of maps, or a book that lists places and facts about them.
   - _Before setting out, the surveyor checked the county's boundaries in his geography._
   - _Old geographies in the library still show empires that vanished a century ago._

## Origin

It came through Middle French géographie and Latin geōgraphia from Ancient Greek γεωγραφία (geōgraphía, “a description of the earth”), formed from γῆ (gê, “earth”) plus γράφω (gráphō, “write”). Its use for lavatories comes from a mid-20th-century euphemism, “show one the geography of the house,” meaning to point out the toilets.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/geography (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).