| 释义 |
geography|dʒiːˈɒgrəfɪ|
Also 6–7 geographie.
[a. F. géographie, ad. L. geographia, a. Gr. γεωγραϕία, f. γεω- geo- + -γραϕία writing.]
1. a. The science which has for its object the description of the earth's surface, treating of its form and physical features, its natural and political divisions, the climate, productions, population, etc., of the various countries. It is frequently divided into mathematical geography, physical geography, and political geography. † subterranean geography = geology.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 285 b, Strabo in his werke of geographie, that is to saie, of the descripcion of the yearth, writeth, that [etc.]. 1599Hakluyt Voy. Pref. *4 Hauing..by the helpe of Geographie, and Chronologie.. referred ech particular relation to the due time and place. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. viii. 315 The City of Rome is magnified by the Latins to be the greatest of the earth; but time and Geography enforme us, that Cairo is bigger then ever it was. 1727Arbuthnot Coins 255 According to antient Fables the Argonauts..sail'd up the Danube, and from thence passed into the Adriatick, carrying their Ship Argo upon their Shoulders: a Mark of great Ignorance in Geography among the Writers of that time. 1786Whitehurst Theory Earth Pref. 2 A competent knowledge of subterranean geography. 1834Nat. Philos., Math. Geog. i. 1/2 (U.K.S.) Mathematical Geography is that branch of the general science which is derived from the application of mathematical truths to the figure of the earth. 1858Sat. Rev. 14 Aug. 158/2 The new term—Physical Geography of the Sea—devised to include all that relates to the physical condition of the watery surface of the globe [etc.]. a1862Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 304 The first Greek prose is on geography. 1880Geikie (title) Physical Geography.
attrib.1782T. Vaughan Fashionable Follies I. 84 His figure [was]..just such a one as it may be supposed heaven would bestow on a geography master. 1857Ruskin Arrows of Chace (1880) I. 42 Precision of touch should be cultivated by map-drawing in his geography class.
b. The study of a subject in its geographical aspects. linguistic geography (see linguistic a.); dialect geography (see dialect 2 b).
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §2 There being a Geography of Religions as well as Lands.
c. The subject-matter of geography; the geographical features of a place or region; the range or extent of what is known geographically.
1737Pope's Lett. Contents, Letter lxxxv. Of the Map of the Geography of Homer, done by the Author. 1784Cook 3rd Voy. iii. xii. II. 221 The islands in the Pacific Ocean, which our late voyages have added to the geography of the globe, have been generally found lying in groups and clusters. 1854Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Resources Wks. (Bohn) III. 198 We have seen the railroad and telegraph subdue our enormous geography. 1859Lever Davenport Dunn i. 2 Science has been popularized, remote geographies made familiar, complex machinery explained.
d. the geography (of the house), the arrangement and position of the rooms, staircases, and other internal features of a house; hence as a jocular euphemism for lavatory, water-closet. colloq.
1864C. M. Yonge Trial II. xiii. 239 The little gentleman showed himself minutely acquainted with the whole geography of the house, knew all the rooms and pictures. 1920‘Sapper’ Bull-Dog Drummond ii. 65 He wanted to get the geography of the house firmly imprinted on his mind. 1927R. Graves Lars Porsena (ed. 2) 68 For a man to show a woman the way to the lavatory..an evasive phrase had to be used:..‘Have you been shown the geography of the house?’ 1930A. Lyall It isn't Done 59 It is all very baffling for the uninitiated foreigner..who when his host offers to ‘show him the geography of the house’ finds that his tour begins and ends with the smallest..room. 1958‘A. Bridge’ Portuguese Escape ix. 154 Will you excuse me if I show you the geography?.. There—that's the gentlemen's bathroom. 1963L. Meynell Virgin Luck v. 117 ‘That's the bathroom,’ she said, explaining the upstairs geography of the place, ‘with the loo just beyond it.’ 1967Listener 21 Dec. 802/2 The Business Man Jocular: ‘I say, where's the geography, old son?’
2. A treatise on this science.
1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 5 Ptolomæus in his geographie defineth it in this sorte. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. xi. 206 Strabo..hath largely condemned it as a fabulous story in the first of his Geographie. 1658W. Burton Comm. Antonius' Itin. 162 The elder [Marcianus]..wrote a Geography, called also Περίπλους, in Iambic Greek verse. a1854E. Forbes Lit. Papers viii. (1855) 218 Districts, the accounts of which in our geographies are lamentably inaccurate and imperfect. 1882W. H. Bishop in Harper's Mag. Dec. 61/2 A high flat-topped peak..of the type of those we used to see in our geographies, rises out of it.
3. transf. The similar descriptive science relating to any other body resembling the earth.
a1898Mod. The geography of Mars.
▸ orig. and chiefly Business and Marketing. As a count noun: a geographical area or geopolitical entity as a distinct commercial sector; a region. Usu. in pl.
1983Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 20 May These pullouts from unprofitable geographies are part of the great evolutionary move toward more effective distributing and marketing. 1994Insight on News 28 Nov. 18/1 ‘Redlining’, the discriminatory lending practice whereby banks refuse to make mortgage loans to people within certain geographies based on the ethnic or racial composition of those areas or the age of their housing stock. 1997Independent 23 Sept. (Network Plus section) 3/3 The authorities..who ride herd over Silicon Valley and other hi-tech geographies. 2004Wall St. Jrnl. (Central ed.) 5 Mar. a3/2 He did say that demand was a little weaker than expected in Asia and Japan, with other geographies more closely meeting the company's expectations. |