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iconography

/ˌaɪkəˈnɒɡɹəfi/

noun

What it means

  1. countableuncountableA set of specified or traditional symbolic forms associated with the subject or theme of a stylized genre of art.

    The hundredodd pages of photographs provide superb iconography of artistic collaboration and its rewards.

    1975 May 4, Dale Harris, “Merce Cunningham”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2024
  2. countableuncountableThe art of representation by pictures or images; the description or study of portraiture or representation, as of persons.

    the iconography of the ancients

  3. countableuncountableThe study of representative art in general.

In a sentence

The hundredodd pages of photographs provide superb iconography of artistic collaboration and its rewards.

1975 May 4, Dale Harris, “Merce Cunningham”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2024

Where it comes from

  1. Englishicono-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gerbʰ-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*grə́pʰō
  4. Ancient Greekγρᾰ́φω (grắphō)
  5. Ancient Greekγραφή (graphḗ)
  6. Englishiconography

From icono- + -graphy.

Full entry for iconography →

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