Geocoding

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The process of assigning geographic coordinates to descriptive location information like addresses or place names to enable mapping and spatial analysis
2. Converting textual location data into latitude and longitude values for use in mapping applications and geographic information systems
3. Translating descriptive location identifiers into precise geographical coordinates to facilitate location-based services and spatial data integration

Etymology: "Geocoding" is the present participle and gerund of the verb "geocode," which is built from "geo-" and "code." The first part comes from the Greek "gaia" or "gê," meaning earth, which appears in Ancient Greek compounds as "geō-." English took this combining form and attached it to many words, such as "geography" and "geology," so readers already recognise it from earth-related terms. The second part traces back much further. "Code" passes through Old French "code" from Latin "codex," a block of wooden tablets bound together, and before that from "caudex," a tree trunk or log. Its meaning shifted from a bundle of writing tablets to a collection of laws, and then to a system of symbols for communicating or representing information, which is the sense that matters here. Put together, "geocode" means to assign a location on the earth to a piece of information, typically by converting an address into coordinates of latitude and longitude. The gerund names that process, so "geocoding" is the action of turning a street address into a point on a map.

Synonyms: geolocation, address mapping, location tagging