Geographicizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Presenting or interpreting a subject through its spatial, locational, or regional features so that it is seen in terms of place
2. Framing an issue, event, or body of information in terms of where it occurs and how it is distributed across land
3. Describing or mapping something by emphasizing its location, territory, and physical landscape rather than other qualities

Etymology: Geographicize is built from three layers. The core is "geo-", from Greek "gē", meaning earth or land, joined to "-graphia", meaning writing or description, which gives "geography" as earth-writing. Adding "-ic" makes the adjective "geographic," and the suffix "-ize" turns that adjective into a verb meaning to make something geographic or to treat it in geographic terms. The suffix does most of the work. "-ize" passes through Latin "-izare" from Greek "-izein," and English uses it to form verbs such as "modernize" and "standardize." Because the pattern is so productive, writers can build a new verb like this one whenever they need it, so the word is a formation from known parts rather than an old inherited term.