Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An unbroken view of an entire surrounding area.
  • noun A comprehensive presentation; a survey.
  • noun A picture or series of pictures representing a continuous scene, often exhibited a part at a time by being unrolled and passed before the spectator.
  • noun A mental vision of a series of events.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A complete or entire view; also, a picture representing a wide or general view, as of a tract of country.
  • noun A picture representing scenes too extended to be beheld at once, and so exhibited a part at a time by being unrolled and made to pass continuously before the spectator.
  • noun A cyclorama: in this sense also called circular panorama.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A complete view in every direction.
  • noun A comprehensive survey of a particular topic; also, a broad view of the development of a series of events.
  • noun A picture presenting a view of objects in every direction, as from a central point.
  • noun A picture representing scenes too extended to be beheld at once, and so exhibited a part at a time, by being unrolled, and made to pass continuously before the spectator.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun an unbroken view of an entire surrounding area
  • noun a picture or series of pictures representing a continuous scene
  • noun figuratively a comprehensive survey

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the visual percept of a region
  • noun a picture (or series of pictures) representing a continuous scene

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Coined by British painter Robert Barker (1739–1806) to describe his cycloramic painting of Edinburgh, displayed in London in a specially built hall called the Panorama : pan– + Greek horāma, sight (from horān, to see; see wer- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From pan- (“all”) +‎ Ancient Greek ὅραμα ("view").

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Examples

  • The notion of plenitude can be conveyed by employing the term panorama ` an unlimited view in all directions 'in a promotional blurb.

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol X No 4 1984

  • 'Rombo' was one of the first sounds generated by a noise machine, while 'rama' comes from the Greek word panorama, which means an overview of the complexity of human activity, thus making Romborama an appropriate album name.

    Grooveeffect 2009

  • One of the crucial elements to a natural-looking panorama is even exposure.

    Take Great Panoramic Pictures With Any Camera | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • The overall tone of the collection, despite the general grimness of the panorama, is gentle and serene.

    Circus Bulgaria by Deyan Enev – review Tibor Fischer 2010

  • You both make good points, and the in camera panorama is no doubt a good way to play around with panoramas, but with all the extra power, aswell as the extra options, customisability etc that you get in software instead of in-camera, if you start to get into it, it's really worth taking the step up to the computer dreamlayers

    Take Great Panoramic Pictures With Any Camera | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • When in Clun you should also visit the castle (another panorama from the BBC), and John Osborne's grave is just up the road from the bridge.

    Clun Bridge 2008

  • •View 360-degree panorama from the right-field bleachers

    A tribute to the 'House that Ruth Built' 2008

  • When in Clun you should also visit the castle (another panorama from the BBC), and John Osborne's grave is just up the road from the bridge.

    Archive 2008-10-01 2008

  • The "McMurdo panorama" is a combination of more than 1400 individual pictures which were taken when the lack of sunlight didn't allow the rover to move during the Marsian winter.

    Archive 2007-03-01 2007

  • Finally, though, if the panorama is implicated in the panoptic fantasy of an all-seeing vision, then the logic of the Diorama (though similarly preoccupied by the enticements of illusion) must be expressed differently.

    Making Visible: The Diorama, the Double and the (Gothic) Subject 2005

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