Phrase guide

ethnographic present

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The present tense formerly used in ethnographies, even for cultures that no longer existed by the time they were written.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: anthropology, human-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • When he said they hunt buffalo, he was using the ethnographic present- there are no buffalo on the reservation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.