Meanings
plural cartographies
- uncountableusuallyThe creation of charts and maps based on the layout of a territory's geography.First known use 19th c.
- countablefigurativelyusuallyAn illustrative discussion of a topic.First known use 20th c.
In the early years of my psychedelic research, I sketched a vastly expanded cartography of the psyche that seems to meet this challenge.
2000, Stanislav Grof, Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research, →ISBN3 more examples
The Dalit feminist standpoint, and more specifically the national Federation of Dalit Women, provide in very clear terms a cartography of governance that forces an official reckoning of a new way of seeing.
2006, Nira Yuval-Davis, Kalpana Kannabiran, Ulrike Vieten, The Situated Politics of Belonging, →ISBN, page 69Since this cartography is not a representation of already existing spaces or cinematic forms but is rather oriented towards the new, it could be described as a cartography of the virtual; however, since Ruiz's work makes a point of departing from the normative rules of cinematic construction as a first principle, this book will outline Ruiz's cartography of images as a cartography of the impossible.
2013, Michael Goddard, The Cinema of Raúl Ruiz: Impossible Cartographies, →ISBN, page 1In short, the volume aims to provide the reader with the coordinates for current debates in global art and to develop a cartography of the various conceptual and methodological intersections that global art studies is addressing today.
2014, Anna Maria Guasch Ferrer, Nasheli Jimenez Del Val, Critical Cartography of Art and Visuality in the Global Age, →ISBN, page xvi
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekχάρτης“map”
- Frenchcartographie
- Englishcartography
From French cartographie, from carte (“map”) (ultimately from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs, “map”)) + -graphie (“-graphy”) (from γράφω (gráphō, “write”)); carto- (“map”) + -graphy.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic عِلْم الْخَرَائِط
- عِلْم الْخَرَائِط (ʕilm al-ḵarāʔiṭ)creation of charts and maps
Bengali মানচিত্রাঙ্কনবিদ্যা
- মানচিত্রাঙ্কনবিদ্যা (mancitraṅkonbidda)creation of charts and maps
Bulgarian картогра́фия
- картогра́фия (kartográfija)creation of charts and maps
Catalan cartografia
- cartografiacreation of charts and maps
Chinese Mandarin 地圖學 /地图学, 製圖學 /制图学
- 地圖學 /地图学 (dìtúxué)creation of charts and maps
- 製圖學 /制图学 (zhìtúxué)creation of charts and maps
- 討論 /讨论 (tǎolùn)illustrative discussion of a topic
- 論述 /论述 (lùnshù)illustrative discussion of a topic
- 論題 /论题 (lùntí)illustrative discussion of a topic
- 調查 /调查 (diàochá)illustrative discussion of a topic
Czech kartografie
- kartografiecreation of charts and maps
Danish kartografi
- kartograficreation of charts and maps
Dutch cartografie
- cartografiecreation of charts and maps
Esperanto kartografio
- kartografiocreation of charts and maps
Estonian kartograafia
- kartograafiacreation of charts and maps
Finnish kartografia, karttaoppi
- kartografiacreation of charts and maps
- karttaoppicreation of charts and maps
- kartoitusillustrative discussion of a topic
French cartographie
- cartographiecreation of charts and maps
German Kartographie, Kartografie
- Kartographiecreation of charts and maps
- Kartografiecreation of charts and maps
Greek χαρτογραφία
- χαρτογραφία (chartografía)creation of charts and maps
Hebrew קַרְטוֹגְרַפְיָה
- קַרְטוֹגְרַפְיָה (kartográfya)creation of charts and maps
Hindi मानचित्रकला, मानचित्रण
- मानचित्रकला (māncitrakalā)creation of charts and maps
- मानचित्रण (māncitraṇ)creation of charts and maps
- नक़्शानवीसी (naqśānvīsī)creation of charts and maps
- मानचित्रविज्ञान (māncitravijñān)creation of charts and maps
- नक़्शा-निगारी (naqśā-nigārī)creation of charts and maps
- नक़्शा-कशी (naqśā-kaśī)creation of charts and maps
Hungarian térképészet, kartográfia
- térképészetcreation of charts and maps
- kartográfiacreation of charts and maps
Icelandic kortagerð
- kortagerðcreation of charts and maps
Indonesian kartografi
- kartograficreation of charts and maps
Irish cartagrafaíocht
- cartagrafaíochtcreation of charts and maps
Italian cartografia
- cartografiacreation of charts and maps
Japanese 地図学
- 地図学 (chizugaku)creation of charts and maps
Korean 지도학
- 지도학 (jidohak)creation of charts and maps
Latin cartographia
- cartographiacreation of charts and maps
Latvian kartogrāfija
- kartogrāfijacreation of charts and maps
Lithuanian kartografija
- kartografijacreation of charts and maps
Malay kartografi
- kartograficreation of charts and maps
Norwegian Bokmål kartografi
- kartograficreation of charts and maps
Persian نَقشِهنِگاری, کارتوگرافی
- نَقشِهنِگاری (naqše-negâri)creation of charts and maps
- کارتوگرافی (kârtogrâfi)creation of charts and maps
Polish kartografia
- kartografiacreation of charts and maps
Portuguese cartografia
- cartografiacreation of charts and maps
Romanian cartografie, cartografiere
- cartografiecreation of charts and maps
- cartografierecreation of charts and maps
Russian картогра́фия
- картогра́фия (kartográfija)creation of charts and maps
Slovak kartografia
- kartografiacreation of charts and maps
Spanish cartografía
- cartografíacreation of charts and maps
Swedish kartografi
- kartograficreation of charts and maps
Tagalog kartograpiya
- kartograpiyacreation of charts and maps
Tamil நிலப்படவரைவியல்
- நிலப்படவரைவியல் (nilappaṭavaraiviyal)creation of charts and maps
Thai การทำแผนที่, การเขียนแผนที่
- การทำแผนที่creation of charts and maps
- การเขียนแผนที่creation of charts and maps
Turkish haritacılık, kartografi
- haritacılıkcreation of charts and maps
- kartograficreation of charts and maps
Ukrainian картогра́фія
- картогра́фія (kartohráfija)creation of charts and maps
Urdu نَقشَہ نِگاری
- نَقشَہ نِگاری (naqśā nigārī)creation of charts and maps
Vietnamese bản đồ học, đồ bản học
- bản đồ họccreation of charts and maps
- đồ bản họccreation of charts and maps
- thuật vẽ bản đồcreation of charts and maps
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cartography
Cite this entry
cartography. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cartography
“cartography.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cartography. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cartography,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cartography.
Source: cartography on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.