gazetteer

Meaning

Noun

1. (archaic, historical) A person who writes for a gazette or newspaper; a journalist; (specifically) a journalist engaged by a government.
2. (broadly, obsolete) A gazette, a newspaper.

Verb

1. (transitive) Synonym of gazette (“to announce the status of (someone) in an official gazette”).
2. (archaic, transitive) To report about (someone) in a gazette or newspaper.

Verb

To describe the geography of (a country or other place) in a gazetteer (etymology 2, noun sense 1).

Synonyms

journalist

geographical dictionary

Translations

répertoire géographique

index géographique

publiciteitsagent

Índice geográfico

índice geográfico

gazetier

الجرائد الرسمية

Publizistin

Publizist

قَامُوس جُغْرَافِيّ

journaliste

εφημεριδογράφος

publiciste

γεωγραφικό λεξικό

geographisches Lexikon

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˌɡæzəˈtɪə/

Etymology

Cognate with English: gazet

In summary

The noun is borrowed from French gazettier (archaic), gazetier (“journalist, newspaperman”) + English -eer (suffix forming agent nouns denoting people associated with or engaged in a specified activities). Gazettier, gazetier are derived from gazette (“newspaper”) + -ier (suffix denoting a profession); and gazette from Italian gazzetta, from Venetan gazeta, from gazeta dele novità (literally “a gazeta of news”) (referring to the cost of the newspaper, a gazeta being a Venetian coin of little value, whence English gazet (obsolete)), possibly a diminutive of Latin gaza (“riches, treasure; treasury”), ultimately from Old Median *ganǰam (“treasure; wealth”). The English word is analysable as gazette + -eer.
The verb is derived from the noun.