Panorama

How to spell panorama

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce panorama

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does panorama mean?

1. nounAn unbroken view of a wide area of scenery in every direction.
2. nounA comprehensive overview or survey of a subject or period.

Panorama in a sentence

• From the rooftop bar the whole city panorama stretched out below us.

• The documentary gives a sweeping panorama of post-war social change.

• The hikers paused at the summit to photograph the mountain panorama.

• Her opening lecture offered a quick panorama of European history.

Where does panorama come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word is an artificial coinage stitched together from two Greek elements: pan, meaning 'all', and horama, meaning 'a view' or 'a sight', which itself derives from the verb horan 'to see'. It was invented in the 1790s by the Irish painter Robert Barker, who patented and exhibited huge cylindrical paintings that surrounded the viewer on all sides, giving the impression of an all-encompassing scene. The literal sense, then, is 'a view of everything', and Barker's name for his attraction quickly caught on across Europe. From describing those vast circular pictures, the word broadened to mean any wide, unbroken stretch of scenery, and later any comprehensive survey of a subject. The same pan- 'all' element survives in everyday relatives such as 'panorama', 'pandemic', and 'panacea', which is a useful reminder that the spelling begins with pan and not pen.

How the word is built

• pan- (all)
• -orama (view, from Greek horama: a sight or spectacle)