panorama

American  

[pan-uh-ram-uh, -rah-muh] / ˌpæn əˈræm ə, -ˈrɑ mə /

noun

• panoramas
  plural

1. an unobstructed and wide view of an extensive area in all directions.

   Synonyms:

   prospect, vista, scene

2. a horizontally extended visual representation providing a wide view of a landscape or other scene, in photography made by joining a series of shots or by using a wide-angle lens, and in film by pivoting the camera horizontally from a fixed place.

3. Older Use

   1. an extended pictorial representation or a cyclorama of a landscape or other scene, often exhibited one part at a time and made to pass continuously before the spectators.

   2. a building for exhibiting such a pictorial representation.

4. a continuously passing or changing scene or an unfolding of events.

   the panorama of Chinese history.

5. a comprehensive survey, as of a subject.

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panorama British  

/ ˌpænəˈrɑːmə /

noun

1. an extensive unbroken view, as of a landscape, in all directions

2. a wide or comprehensive survey

   a panorama of the week's events

3. a large extended picture or series of pictures of a scene, unrolled before spectators a part at a time so as to appear continuous

4. another name for cyclorama

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• panoramic
  adjective
• panoramically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• panoramas
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of panorama

First recorded in 1790–1800; pan- + Greek (h)órāma “view, sight,” derivative of horân “to see, look”

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Explanation

A panorama is a wide, unbroken view, or a picture of one. Pay more for your hotel room in Hawaii and you'll likely get a balcony with a picture perfect panorama of the ocean. The noun panorama was coined in 1789 by the inventor and artist Robert Barker to describe “a complete view.” These days you can click the panorama setting on your camera to capture an extra wide vista or scene. Don’t confuse panorama with diorama: They sound similar, but remember that a panorama is the view and a diorama is the viewing device.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

panorama panoramas

From Curiosity's position, the panorama looks downhill toward the crater floor, while the distant rim of Gale Crater is only faintly visible along the horizon.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

Eight feet to my right, a 1,000-foot cliff falls away, revealing a sprawling panorama of wild desertscape outside of Moab, Utah.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

The museum’s panorama of ageless ambience is this summer enhanced by increased yet snappy security and a handsome “John Williams Stage” plaque honoring L.A.’s beloved composer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

The gunfire did not appear to faze tourists, who ascended Morro Dois Irmaos at dawn on Tuesday to watch the sunrise over Rio's sweeping panorama of mountains and curved beaches.

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

From each summit the panorama was sensational—for as far as the eye could see nothing but heavy green woods, denim-blue lakes, and lonely, undulant mountains.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

He shifts effortlessly between bird’s-eye panoramas of battles and empires and close-up historical family dramas or images of himself rumbling along in a truck on dirt roads to visit the sites where things happened.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025

They took slow panoramas from hilltops, and held still for minutes, sometimes hours, on downtown garment-shop blocks or railroad crossings.

From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2024

Two hypnotically absorbing, cryptically titled, insidiously damning panoramas of life in, respectively, the sun-drenched island of Tahiti and a snow-bound Transylvanian village, neither of which you’ll be in a hurry to visit afterward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2023

The Forest Service ran out of money before he finished re-creating all the panoramas they wanted.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

The beauties, wonders, awesome spectacles, inspiring panoramas, and extensive ranges of vision which await the aerial traveler, make of cloudland a veritable fairyland if he will open his consciousness to them.

From Visual Illusions Their Causes, Characteristics and Applications by Matthew Luckiesh

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