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ordnance survey

noun

Simple meaning

Originally the branch of government that produced maps for the military, now a civilian organisation that produces maps worldwide.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awrdnuhnservay

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɔɹdnənsɚveɪ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. british

    Originally the branch of government that produced maps for the military, now a civilian organisation that produces maps worldwide.

  2. Similar organisations in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Originally the branch of government that produced maps for the military, now a civilian organisation that produces maps worldwide.

Used this way, ordnance survey is a word tied to one variety of English that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Regional
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Military
  • Historical writing
  • News/reporting
  • Government/politics

Usage note

Mainly used in British English, so it may read as unusual elsewhere.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.