γεωγραφία

Forms

γεωγρᾰφῐ́ᾱ (geōgraphíā) f (genitive γεωγρᾰφῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic γεωγραφίη.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek γεωγράφος (geōgráphos, “geographer”) + -ία (-ía), or equally γεω- (geō-) with -γραφία (-graphía).^[1][3][4] The parts are γῆ (gê, “earth”) and γράφω (gráphō, “to write, draw”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is the Ionic form in a fragment of Democritus (5th century BC), meaning a geographical treatise.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Greek the word named first a written description of the earth, a geographical treatise, and also a map: the astronomer Geminus speaks of people who draw their maps round.^[2][6] As the name of the science, the study of the earth's surface, it is found from Polybius and Philodemus on, and above all in Strabo, whose great work it names, and Ptolemy's work bore the same title.^[2][7][6] Plutarch uses the plural of geographical works, and the lexicographer Zonaras glosses it as "description, survey".^[2][8]

It passed into Latin as geographia, which passed through French into English as geography in the 1540s.^[9][10] Modern Greek γεωγραφία (jeografía) is a learned revival of the Hellenistic word, meaning the science and also a textbook of it.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – A fragment of Democritus has the Ionic form for a geographical treatise.^[2]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of the science of geography.^[2][7]
• 1st century BC – Geminus uses it of a map, and Diodorus Siculus and Strabo of geography.^[2][7][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses the plural of geographical works.^[2][5]
• 2nd century AD – Ptolemy's geographical work bears it as its title.^[2]
• 1540s – English borrows geography through French and Latin.^[10]
• Modern Greek – γεωγραφία (jeografía) is the learned name of the science.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A geographical treatise, a description of the earth.^[6][2][5]
2. A map.^[6][2]
3. Geography as a science.^[6][2]

Related words

• γεωγράφος (geōgráphos)
• γῆ (gê)
• γράφω (gráphō)
• Latin geographia
• English geography

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
5. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
9. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος