inscape

American

[in-skeyp] / ˈɪnˌskeɪp /

noun

the unique essence or inner nature of a person, place, thing, or event, especially depicted in poetry or a work of art.

inscape British

/ ˈɪnskeɪp /

noun

the essential inner nature of a person, an object, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of inscape

First recorded in 1865–70; in- ¹ ( def. ) + -scape ( def. ); coined by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Such inscape contrasts sharply with the surface of a Hollywood seen as a satiric set piece.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now it is the virtue of design, pattern, or inscape to be distinctive and it is the vice of distinctiveness to become queer.

From Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins Now First Published by Bridges, Robert Seymour

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023