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Physical geography   /fˈɪzɪkəl dʒiˈɑgrəfi/   Listen
noun
geography  n.  (pl. geographies)  
1.
The science which treats of the world and its inhabitants; a description of the earth, or a portion of the earth, including its structure, features, products, political divisions, and the people by whom it is inhabited. It also includes the responses and adaptations of people to topography, climate, soil and vegetation
2.
A treatise on this science.
Astronomical geography, or Mathematical geography, treats of the earth as a planet, of its shape, its size, its lines of latitude and longitude, its zones, and the phenomena due to to the earth's diurnal and annual motions.
Physical geography treats of the conformation of the earth's surface, of the distribution of land and water, of minerals, plants, animals, etc., and applies the principles of physics to the explanation of the diversities of climate, productions, etc.
Political geography treats of the different countries into which earth is divided with regard to political and social and institutions and conditions.


adjective
Physical  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to nature (as including all created existences); in accordance with the laws of nature; also, of or relating to natural or material things, or to the bodily structure, as opposed to things mental, moral, spiritual, or imaginary; material; natural; as, armies and navies are the physical force of a nation; the body is the physical part of man. "Labor, in the physical world, is... employed in putting objects in motion." "A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force."
2.
Of or pertaining to physics, or natural philosophy; treating of, or relating to, the causes and connections of natural phenomena; as, physical science; physical laws. "Physical philosophy."
3.
Perceptible through a bodily or material organization; cognizable by the senses; external; as, the physical, opposed to chemical, characters of a mineral.
4.
Of or pertaining to physic, or the art of medicine; medicinal; curative; healing; also, cathartic; purgative. (Obs.) "Physical herbs." "Is Brutus sick? and is it physical To walk unbraced, and suck up the humors Of the dank morning?"
Physical astronomy, that part of astronomy which treats of the causes of the celestial motions; specifically, that which treats of the motions resulting from universal gravitation.
Physical education, training of the bodily organs and powers with a view to the promotion of health and vigor.
Physical examination (Med.), an examination of the bodily condition of a person.
Physical geography. See under Geography.
Physical point, an indefinitely small portion of matter; a point conceived as being without extension, yet having physical properties, as weight, inertia, momentum, etc.; a material point.
Physical signs (Med.), the objective signs of the bodily state afforded by a physical examination.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Physical geography" Quotes from Famous Books



... rarity he chanced not to come, we said among ourselves in students' jargon, 'Alexander cuts the college to-day, because he's gone to King's to tea.' Once, on occasion of discussing an important problem of physical geography, Ritter quoted him, and every body looked up at him. Humboldt bowed to us, with his usual good nature, which put the youngsters into the happiest humor. We felt ourselves elevated by the presence of this great thinker and most laborious student. We seemed to be joined ...
— The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851 • Various
... speech three years before had said: "The stupendous deserts between the Nueces and the Bravo rivers are the natural boundaries between the Anglo-Saxon and the Mauritanian races"; a statement which, however faulty from the point of view of ethnology and physical geography, shows clearly enough the view then held of ...
— Abraham Lincoln: A History V1 • John G. Nicolay and John Hay
... for many years the editor of the Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society; the following works were edited and revised, or supplemented by him:—Mrs. Somerville's Physical Geography, 1870; A. Humbert, Japan and the Japanese, 1874; C. Koldewey, the German Arctic Expedition, 1874; P. E. Warburton, Journey across the Western Interior of Australia, 1875; Cassell's Illustrated Travels, ...
— The Naturalist on the River Amazons • Henry Walter Bates
... papers on birds and insects, with others on the physical geography of the Archipelago and its various races of man, furnished all the necessary materials for the general sketch of the natural history of these islands, and the many problems arising therefrom, which made the "Malay Archipelago" the most popular of his books. In addition to his own personal ...
— Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences Vol 2 (of 2) • James Marchant
... me if Mrs. Somerville was now occupied with pure mathematics. He said: 'There she is strong. I never saw her but once. She must be over sixty years old.' In reality she was seventy-seven. He spoke with admiration of Mrs. Somerville's 'Physical Geography,'—said it was excellent because so concise. 'A German woman would have used ...
— Maria Mitchell: Life, Letters, and Journals • Maria Mitchell


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