landscape

Plurallandscapes

Formslandscapes, landscaping, landscaped

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A stretch of land that the eye can take in at a single view, together with everything visible within it.

   The climbers paused at the summit to take in the vast landscape.

   A single glance across the valley revealed a landscape of farms, woods, and a winding river.

   Similarview, panorama, vista, scenery, scene

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   An area of land or territory defined by its landform and by its geographical and architectural features.

   Volcanic activity gave the region a rugged landscape of black rock and steep ridges.

   Urban planners studied how the landscape would change once the new district was built.

   Similarterrain, topography, scenery

   Note

   The oldest layer of the word, and the one closest to its roots. Old English landsċipe meant "region, district, tract of land". The modern spelling came from earlier landskip, altered under the influence of Dutch landschap. Here the word names terrain itself, and it stretches easily to built ground: a lunar landscape, or city landscapes dotted with skyscrapers.

3. 3
   nounfigurativelycountable or uncountable

   The overall set of conditions or circumstances shaping a particular area of activity at a given moment.

   The competitive landscape shifted dramatically when the startup entered the market.

   Regulators are struggling to keep up with a fast-changing technology landscape.

   Similarenvironment, scene, climate, terrain

   Note

   A figurative stretch of the sweeping-view meaning: a field of activity surveyed as if from a height. A noun naming the field typically sits in front of it, as in software patent landscape, technology landscape or competitive landscape. The verbs it attracts are verbs of change: a landscape shifts, changes or evolves, because the point is an overview that will not hold still.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   A page or image orientation in which the horizontal sides are longer than the vertical sides.

   The designer set the brochure in landscape to give the photographs more width.

   Wide charts are easier to read when the page is formatted as landscape.

   Oppositeportrait

   Note

   Printers and screen layouts use it as the counterpart of portrait: landscape runs wide, portrait runs tall. It is uncountable. It usually follows in (print it in landscape) or modifies another noun (landscape orientation, landscape mode). To keep the pair apart, picture what each shape suits: a wide view of open land, or a tall head-and-shoulders likeness.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To design, build, or maintain the planted and shaped features of an outdoor area.

   The couple hired a firm to landscape their steeply sloping garden.

   Volunteers landscaped the schoolyard with native shrubs and trees.

6. 6
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A picture showing a real or imagined scene of nature, such as fields, hills, forests, or water, as its main subject.

   The gallery's newest landscape depicts a storm rolling over open farmland.

   He spent the summer painting landscapes along the rocky coast.

7. 7
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A space, whether indoor or outdoor and natural or made by people, considered as a designed or shaped setting.

   The museum's central atrium was conceived as a sculpted indoor landscape.

   Designers treated the lobby as a man-made landscape of stone, light, and greenery.

   Similarenvironment, setting

8. 8
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The visual character or scenery of a country, considered as a whole.

   The film captured the bleak landscape of the northern moors.

   Tuscany's rolling landscape has inspired painters for centuries.

   Similarscenery, countryside, terrain

9. 9
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The social character of a physical area, seen in terms of how people live and interact within it.

   Researchers mapped the social landscape of the city's poorest districts.

   From shop signs to hallway chatter, the campus's linguistic landscape reveals how many languages its students bring with them.

   Note

   A social scientist's extension of the word: the physical area stays, but the interest moves to what people do there. It almost always takes an adjective naming the aspect under study, such as linguistic, social, visual or spoken. Li Huang and James Lambert (2019) set a visual landscape beside a spoken one within a single institution. One place can hold several landscapes at once.

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