cartographer

/kɑrˈtɒgrəfər/

Other forms: cartographers

Unless you’re the one guy in America who actually asks for directions, you’ve probably broken down and used a map at some point in your life. The cartographer is the person you should thank for getting you un-lost — the mapmaker.

A cartographer is a person who creates maps, whether they’re of the world, the local bus routes, or buried pirate treasure. It comes to us from the Latin word charta-, which means “tablet or leaf of paper,” and the Greek word graphein, meaning to write or draw. These days, a cartographer doesn’t have to work on paper––it's all computers, making electronic maps as part of GPS software. Technically, a cartographer can make charts, too.

Definitions of cartographer

1. noun

   a person who makes maps
   synonyms: map maker

   examples:

   Sebastian Cabot

   son of John Cabot who was born in Italy and who led an English expedition in search of the Northwest Passage and a Spanish expedition that explored the La Plata region of Brazil; in 1544 he published a map of the world (1476-1557)

   type of:

   geographer

   a scientist trained in the study of the earth's surface