ethnographic

American  

[eth-nuh-graf-ik] / ˌɛθ nəˈgræf ɪk /

Rarely ethnographical

adjective

1. of or relating to ethnography, the branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of individual cultures.

   Ethnographic information indicates that trips to harvest wild hot peppers were important social and economic ventures among Apache peoples in the region.

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Other Word Forms

• ethnographically adverb

Etymology

Origin of ethnographic

ethno- ( def. ) + -graphic ( def. )

Explanation

Anything that describes a specific culture's customs, like a movie about a small village in China or a book about French Canadians, can be described as ethnographic. You're most likely to hear the word ethnographic in an anthropology class, since it's a scientific way to describe books, films, research, or lectures that have to do with the study of human societies and their customs. The word comes from two Greek roots, ethnos, or "people," and grapho, "to write." So if you write a paper about the customs of American teenagers in the 1980s, your work is ethnographic.

Example Sentences

Dr Conor Murray, a senior lecturer in criminology at Ulster University, is the author of Young Men, Masculinities and Imprisonment: An ethnographic study in Northern Ireland.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

Silverstein’s ethnographic approach to customer research helped form Coach’s marketing strategy to keep them coming after the trend waned.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

Matrilineal avuncularity is known from a few ethnographic and historical examples, he notes, such as the Iroquois of North America, and is often unrelated to concerns about female fidelity.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 3, 2024

During his lifetime, Mr. Horniman amassed a collection of ethnographic objects, natural history specimens and musical instruments.

From New York Times • Mar. 4, 2024

Such a hypothesis accords as well with the animism found in ethnographic societies the world over.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson