geodesy

American  

[jee-od-uh-see] / dʒiˈɒd ə si /

Also geodetics

noun

1. the branch of applied mathematics that deals with the measurement of the shape and area of large tracts of country, the exact position of geographical points, and the curvature, shape, and dimensions of the earth.

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geodesy British  

/ dʒɪˈɒdɪsɪ, ˌdʒiːəʊˈdɛtɪks /

noun

1. the branch of science concerned with determining the exact position of geographical points and the shape and size of the earth

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geodesy Scientific  

/ jē-ŏd′ĭ-sē /

1. The scientific study of the size and shape of the Earth, its field of gravity, and such varying phenomena as the motion of the magnetic poles and the tides.

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Other Word Forms

• geodesist noun

Etymology

Origin of geodesy

1560–70; < French géodésie < Greek geōdaisía, equivalent to geō- geo- + daí ( ein ) to divide + -sia, variant of -ia -ia (generalized from stems ending in t )

Example Sentences

The researchers hail from all manner of different fields, including ecology, plant sciences, soil sciences, computer science, robotics, geodesy and agricultural economics.

From Science Daily • May 6, 2024

There are already facilities at the Technical University of Munich, and they’ll be merged into an interdisciplinary center for aviation, aerospace, and geodesy, which is the discipline for measuring Earth.

From The Verge • Oct. 20, 2018

Vermeer, the professor of geodesy at Aalto University, describes how land is rising faster by the coastline than further east, which is causing rivers to tilt.

From Slate • Aug. 7, 2017

Many other coastal nations, including Japan and Chile, are working to monitor the movements of the ocean bottom, an effort known as sea-floor geodesy.

From Nature • Jun. 20, 2017

And thus much of the geodesy of right lines, by the meanes of rectangled triangles: It followeth now of the triangulate.

From The Way To Geometry by Bedwell, William