Chorographies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Detailed written accounts or maps that describe the features of a particular region, district or country
2. Careful descriptive surveys of a territory, covering its geography, places and notable characteristics
3. Records or charts that portray the landscape and topography of a specific area in close detail

Etymology: Chorographies is simply the plural of "chorography", so it refers to more than one such description. The singular term came into English from Latin "chōrographia", which was itself borrowed from Ancient Greek "khōrographía", a compound of "khōra" (region, country, place) and the suffix -graphia (writing, describing). In other words, a chorography is a writing about a region. The Greek word's history is a little tangled, and the English form is easy to misread. Its middle element, -graphy, comes from "graphḗ" (writing), so the modern English reader sees "chorus" plus "graphy" and imagines dancing. That reading is a false friend: the first part is "khōra", not the Greek "khorós" meaning dance ring, which is a different word that happens to look similar. The two have only been confused on the surface, and the English term owes nothing to dancing.

Synonyms: topography, chorology