megalography

English

The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1490-1510) by Hieronymus Bosch, an example of megalography

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μεγαλογραφία (megalographía). Morphologically megalo- +‎ -graphy,

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛɡəˈlɒɡrəfi/, /ˌmɛɡlˈɒɡrəfi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛɡəˈlɑɡrəfi/
• Rhymes: -ɒɡɹəfi
• Hyphenation: me‧ga‧lo‧gra‧phy

Noun

megalography (uncountable)

1. (art) The depiction of great or grand things, such as heroes and gods; painting on a large scale

   Antonym: rhopography

   The room was decorated with magnificent megalography, overwhelming the viewer upon entrance.

   • 1889, Octave Uzanne, The Mirror of the World‎^[1], King's Street, London: John C. Nimmo, page 21:

     What were, in short, these astonishing decorators of all sorts, lavishing frescoes, ceilings, and that historical megalography which surprises us even now by its boldness and breadth?

   • 1896, Gaston Boissier, translated by D. Havelock Fisher, Rome and Pompeii: Archaeological Rambles‎^[2], New York City: G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 425:

     The Pompeian houses are usually small; the space which the architect gave over to the painter was not, as a rule, of great extent, and was little suited for what the Greeks styled "megalography."

2. (medicine) macrography; form of dysgraphia defined by unusually large handwriting

Related terms

• megalograph
• megalographic

Translations

Translations

• Catalan: megalografia f
• French: mégalographie (fr) f
• German: Megalographie f, Großmalerei f
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: μεγαλογραφία f (megalographía)

• Italian: megalografia f
• Latin: megalographia f
• Portuguese: megalografia f
• Russian: мегалография (ru) f (megalografija)
• Spanish: megalografía f

References

• “megalography”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• 1981, William Alexander Newman Dorland, Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary‎^[3], Philadelphia: Saunders, →ISBN, page 976: