Geographically

How to spell geographically

14 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce geographically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does geographically mean?

1. adverbIn a way that relates to the physical features or layout of a place or region on the earth.

Geographically in a sentence

• The two offices are geographically close but separated by a slow ferry crossing.

• The survey grouped respondents geographically to compare urban and rural attitudes.

Where does geographically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This adverb traces back to the Greek geographia, a compound of ge meaning 'earth' and graphein meaning 'to write' or 'to describe', so the literal sense was 'a writing about the earth' or 'description of the land'. The Greeks used it for the systematic mapping and description of the world's regions, and the term passed into Latin as geographia before reaching English. The adjective 'geographical' was formed by attaching the Latin-derived endings -ic and -al, and the adverb 'geographically' simply adds -ly on top of that long chain. The same ge root survives in 'geology' and 'geometry', while the graph element links it to 'photograph' and 'biography'. The spelling trap lives in the unstressed middle: 'geo' is easy, but the stacked '-graph-ic-al-ly' tail hides a schwa and a doubled 'l' that writers often shortchange.

How the word is built

• geo- (earth)
• graph (write/describe)
• -ic (adjective)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb)