Description, n.
Etymology: [F. description, L. descriptio. See Describe.]
1. The act of describing; a delineation by marks or signs.
2. A sketch or account of anything in words; a portraiture or representation in language; an enumeration of the essential qualities of a thing or species. Milton has descriptions of morning. D. Webster.
3. A class to which a certain representation is applicable; kind; sort. A difference . . . between them and another description of public creditors. A. Hamilton. The plates were all of the meanest description. Macaulay.
Syn. -- Account; definition; recital; relation; detail; narrative; narration; explanation; delineation; representation; kind; sort. See Definition.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for description; he lists it under definition, report.
Where he writes about it:
A definition is exact, an explanation general; a definition is formal, a description pictorial. — from definition
A definition must include all that belongs to the object defined, and exclude all that does not; a description may include only some general features; an explanation may simply throw light upon some point of special difficulty. — from definition
Definition, explanation, exposition, and interpretation are ordinarily blended in a commentary, which may also include description. — from definition
A description gives especial scope to the pictorial element. — from report