topography

American  

[tuh-pog-ruh-fee] / təˈpɒg rə fi /

noun

• topographies
  plural

1. the detailed mapping or charting of the features of a relatively small area, district, or locality.

2. the detailed description, especially by means of surveying, of particular localities, as cities, towns, or estates.

3. the relief features or surface configuration of an area.

4. the features, relations, or configuration of a structural entity.

5. a schema of a structural entity, as of the mind, a field of study, or society, reflecting a division into distinct areas having a specific relation or a specific position relative to one another.

---

topography British  

/ təˈpɒɡrəfɪ /

noun

1. the study or detailed description of the surface features of a region

2. the detailed mapping of the configuration of a region

3. the land forms or surface configuration of a region

4. the surveying of a region's surface features

5. the study or description of the configuration of any object

---

topography Scientific  

/ tə-pŏg′rə-fē /

1. The three-dimensional arrangement of physical attributes (such as shape, height, and depth) of a land surface in a place or region. Physical features that make up the topography of an area include mountains, valleys, plains, and bodies of water. Human-made features such as roads, railroads, and landfills are also often considered part of a region's topography.

2. The detailed description or drawing of the physical features of a place or region, especially in the form of contour maps.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• topographer
  noun
• topographic
  adjective
• topographical
  adjective
• topographically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• topographies
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of topography

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English topographye, from Late Latin topographia, from Greek topographía; see topo-, -graphy

---

Explanation

Topography is a detailed map of the surface features of land. It includes the mountains, hills, creeks, and other bumps and lumps on a particular hunk of earth. This handy word is a Greek-rooted combo of topos meaning "place" and graphein, "to write." The suffix -graphy means writing or representation made in a specific way, and shows up in familiar words like photography, oceanography, or even geography, which is similar to topography, but refers to where things are, but not what's on top. Topography represents a particular area in detail, including everything natural and man-made — hills, valleys, roads, or lakes. It's the geographical contours of the land.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

topography topographies

El Niño events can accelerate this process, while local factors such as cloud cover, snowfall and mountain topography influence its pace.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

“Hill-climbing” is the term that is suddenly on lips across Silicon Valley, for reasons that have nothing to do with San Francisco’s dramatic topography or techies’ love of hiking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Geologists have determined the sounds are from shifting tectonic plates, creating underground rumblings that are amplified by the topography.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The OS first started mapping Britain 230 years ago and has since documented the changes in the country's topography.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Europa is about the size of our moon but its topography is markedly different.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

University of Washington scientists who combined sea-level projections with topographies along Washington’s coast found some parts of Seattle and other areas will be permanently underwater if worst-case projections are realized.

From National Geographic ● Feb. 9, 2024

The drawing is then coated with several layers of beeswax: sealing, burying and halting the natural progress of these topographies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2022

But the impacts of climate change are uneven, Beissinger said, and the Pacific Northwest’s varying topographies and climates make it challenging to predict exactly how birds will adjust, Beissinger said.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2021

That breakthrough, he added, became the initial source for the kinds of detailed ocean topographies that are now visible to everyday users of Google Earth.

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2021

In contrast, the Mediterranean zones of southwestern Australia and, to a lesser degree, of South Africa and western Europe offer a narrower range of altitudes, habitats, and topographies.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• contour

---