Mapmaking

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The practice of designing and producing representations of geographical spaces involves both artistic skills and scientific techniques for navigation and exploration
2. Engaging in the creation of detailed and accurate geographical illustrations encompasses artistic creativity and technical knowledge for guiding travel
3. The activity of creating visual representations of geographic areas using various tools and methods

Etymology: "Mapmaking" is a plain compound: "map" joined to "making," the gerund of "make." The "-making" element has long been productive in English for forming nouns about the act of producing something, as in "watchmaking" or "filmmaking," so the word needs no special coinage to explain it. The base word "map" has its own history. It came into English from medieval Latin "mappa," meaning a cloth or napkin, and the sense of a cloth bearing a picture of the world seems to have developed from that. Because a map is a flat surface onto which the earth is drawn, the older word for the cloth ended up naming the drawing, and "mapmaking" describes the craft of producing those drawings.

Synonyms: cartography, charting