[land-skeyp] 
noun, verb, -scaped, -scap⋅ing.| 1. | a section or expanse of rural scenery, usually extensive, that can be seen from a single viewpoint. |
| 2. | a picture representing natural inland or coastal scenery. |
| 3. | Fine Arts. the category of aesthetic subject matter in which natural scenery is represented. |
| 4. | Obsolete. a panoramic view of scenery; vista. |
| 5. | to improve the appearance of (an area of land, a highway, etc.), as by planting trees, shrubs, or grass, or altering the contours of the ground. |
| 6. | to improve the landscape of. |
| 7. | to do landscape gardening as a profession. |
| land·scape (lānd'skāp') n.
v. tr. To adorn or improve (a section of ground) by contouring and by planting flowers, shrubs, or trees. v. intr. To arrange grounds artistically as a profession. [Dutch landschap, from Middle Dutch landscap, region : land, land; see lendh- in Indo-European roots + -scap, state, condition (collective suff.).] land'scap'er n. Word History: Landscape, first recorded in 1598, was borrowed as a painters' term from Dutch during the 16th century, when Dutch artists were pioneering the landscape genre. The Dutch word landschap had earlier meant simply "region, tract of land" but had acquired the artistic sense, which it brought over into English, of "a picture depicting scenery on land." Interestingly, 34 years pass after the first recorded use of landscape in English before the word is used of a view or vista of natural scenery. This delay suggests that people were first introduced to landscapes in paintings and then saw landscapes in real life. |
