Geoglyph
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A large-scale drawing or image made on the ground by arranging lines of stones, scratching the earth, etc., and often only fully visible from a distance or the air.
"These, and almost 100 others stretched along the Colorado River in the California and Arizona deserts, are called geoglyphs or earth carvings by scientists. [...] Although their exact purpose and meaning are still a mystery, we do know these large and delicate geoglyphs are easily damaged by vehicles breaking through the desert surface and obliterating the figures."
Example
More examples"These, and almost 100 others stretched along the Colorado River in the California and Arizona deserts, are called geoglyphs or earth carvings by scientists. [...] Although their exact purpose and meaning are still a mystery, we do know these large and delicate geoglyphs are easily damaged by vehicles breaking through the desert surface and obliterating the figures."
Etymology
From geo- (“the Earth; geography”) + glyph (“figure carved in relief or incised”), modelled after petroglyph.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.