Origin: Greek suffix -ography
Geography has 2 different meanings across 1 category:
study of the earth's surface; includes people's responses to topography and climate and soil and vegetation
"The geography course required us to analyze how local farmers adapted their crops to the region's unique soil, climate, and steep slopes."
A description of the earth: a treatise or textbook on geography; (archaic) an atlas or gazetteer.
"The old merchant kept his collection of maps and charts inside a leather-bound volume he referred to as a geography, relying on its detailed descriptions of foreign lands for every voyage."
In plain English: Geography is the study of places and how they relate to each other on Earth.
"The geography lesson focused on how mountains and rivers shape the landscape."
Usage: Use "geography" to refer to the study of physical features and human societies across the Earth's surface, not as a synonym for a book or map collection. This noun describes the academic discipline itself rather than a specific written treatise or archaic reference work.
The word geography comes from Ancient Greek, where it originally meant a written description of the earth. It entered English through Middle French and Latin, combining elements for "earth" and "to write." A separate, unrelated usage referring to lavatories emerged in the mid-20th century as a euphemism for showing someone the location of toilets in a house.