What does "gazetteer" mean?
A person who writes for a gazette or newspaper; a journalist; (specifically) a journalist engaged by a government.
Gazetteer
/ˌɡæzəˈtɪə/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person who writes for a gazette or newspaper; a journalist; (specifically) a journalist engaged by a government.
- Grammar: gazetteer is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: atlas, biographical dictionary, calendar, casebook.
- Useful contrasts: data consumer, gazetteer user, nongeographic dataset.
- Usage evidence: Mount novv to Gallo-belgicus: Appeare / As deepe as a States-man, as a Gazettier.
How to use "gazetteer"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "gazetteer" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person who writes for a gazette or newspaper; a journalist; (specifically) a journalist engaged by a government. archaic, historical
"Mount novv to Gallo-belgicus: Appeare / As deepe as a States-man, as a Gazettier."
- 2 A dictionary or index of geographical locations. transitive
"The kind Reception the Gazetteer has met vvith in the VVorld, manifeſted by the ſeveral Editions that have been of it, vvithin the compaſs of a fevv Years; and indeed, the Conveniency of a Compendious Undertaking of this kind, have induced us to go on vvith a ſecond Part, comprehending the other three Quarters of the VVorld, viz. Aſia, Africa and America; ſince the firſt had confin'd it ſelf entirely vvithin the Boundaries of Europe."
- 3 a geographical dictionary (as at the back of an atlas) wordnet
- 4 A gazette, a newspaper. broadly, obsolete
"The Hoſt look'd ſtedfaſtly at Adams, and after a Minute's ſilence aſked him "if he vvas one of the VVriters of the Gazetteers? for I have heard," ſays he, "they are vvrit by Parſons." "Gazetteers!" anſvvered Adams. "What is that?" "It is a dirty Nevvs-Paper," replied the Hoſt, "vvhich hath been given avvay all over the Nation for theſe many Years to abuſe Trade and honeſt Men, vvhich I vvould not ſuffer to lie on my Table, tho' it hath been offered me for nothing.""
- 5 A similar descriptive list (often alphabetical) of information on other subjects. broadly, transitive
"[A]ll the brighter stars of the sky are registered in their true relations one to another, on charts and photographic plates. […] When a higher precision is required, one must consult those gazetteers of the sky known as star catalogues."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 a journalist who writes for a gazette wordnet
Verb
- 1 Synonym of gazette (“to announce the status of (someone) in an official gazette”). transitive
"[A]s an old friend I've got one favour to beg and to request to be granted. […] Why, when you've been gazetteered as Sir Robert and Lady Smugglefuss, that I shall be the first to be honoured with a visit."
- 2 To describe the geography of (a country or other place) in a gazetteer (etymology 2, noun etymology 2 sense 1). transitive
"Such a cosmopolitan collection of post-marks is seldom made. They have a conventional range, from Buckingham Palace and Osborne, through university towns, scholars' libraries, remote parishes in Scotland, the seats of power in British India, to places Down East, and towns at the West not yet gazetteered; […]"
- 3 To report about (someone) in a gazette or newspaper. archaic, transitive
"[O]ur modern canibals of the gazetteering tribe, leſs delicate than they, can divert themſelves in cool blood vvith the pangs of their friends, and exert their more licentious brutality amidſt the miſeries of nations in ſtrict alliance vvith their ovvn;—if ſuch inſects can be deem'd of any nation."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
data consumergazetteer usernongeographic datasetnongeographic index
Example
"Mount novv to Gallo-belgicus: Appeare / As deepe as a States-man, as a Gazettier."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "gazetteer"?
Common synonyms include: atlas, biographical dictionary, calendar, casebook, catalog, catalogue raisonne.
How do you use "gazetteer" in a sentence?
Mount novv to Gallo-belgicus: Appeare / As deepe as a States-man, as a Gazettier.
How do you pronounce "gazetteer"?
Pronounced /ˌɡæzəˈtɪə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The noun is borrowed from French gazettier (archaic), gazetier (“journalist, newspaperman”) + English -eer (suffix forming agent nouns denoting people associated with or engaged in a specified activities). Gazettier, gazetier are derived from gazette (“newspaper”) + -ier (suffix denoting a profession); and gazette from Italian gazzetta, from Venetan gazeta, from gazeta dele novità (literally “a gazeta of news”) (referring to the cost of the newspaper, a gazeta being a Venetian coin of little value, whence English gazet (obsolete)), possibly a diminutive of Latin gaza (“riches, treasure; treasury”), ultimately from Old Median *ganǰam (“treasure; wealth”). The English word is analysable as gazette + -eer. The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology 2
The noun is derived from The Gazetteer’s, or Newsman’s Interpreter (1st edition, 1692), the name of a geographical index compiled by the English clergyman and historian Laurence Echard (c. 1670 – 1730); in the preface he said “The Title was given me by a very eminent Person, whom I forbear to name.” The preface also stated that the work was “partly design’d for all such as frequent Coffee-Houses, and other places for News”, that is, to help readers better understand the newspapers written by gazetteers or journalists (see etymology 1). The verb is derived from the noun.