panorama

American  

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

noun

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  

/ ˌpænəˈræmɪk, 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

• panoramic adjective
• panoramically adverb

Etymology

Origin of panorama

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

Example Sentences

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

The couple had stopped lighting fires for warmth and instead hung a long mirror over it so that it reflected a panorama stretching up the coast to Point Dume, 13 miles away.

From Los Angeles Times

In about 45 minutes of walking amid a land’s end panorama, I never saw another soul.

From Los Angeles Times

One daring sequence toward the end offers a vivid panorama beyond this woman’s world.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was now a sweeping panorama of mostly empty, mulch-covered lots.

From Los Angeles Times