topography

Etymology

First attested in 1432. From Middle English topographye, from Latin topographia, from Ancient Greek τοπογραφία (topographía), from τόπος (tópos, “place”) + γράφω (gráphō, “I write”).

noun

1. A precise description of a place.
2. A detailed graphic representation of the surface features of a place or object.
3. The features themselves; terrain.
4. The surveying of the features.
5. (by extension) A figurative landscape; a structure of interrelated ideas, etc.
   With good humor if predictably, the emotional topography of the faire facilitates a kind of liberation from both the closet and the cruelty of high school cliquedom. 2014, Rachel Lee Rubin, Well Met: Renaissance Faires and the American Counterculture, page 283