Word
biography
Phoneticsbi·og·ra·phy
US/baɪˈɑɡɹəfi/
UK/baɪˈɒɡɹəfi/
Definitions
01a life story
n. a book or story that tells the true facts about a person's life.
n. a written account of another person's life, typically published as a book or article.
“I just finished reading a fascinating biography of Steve Jobs.”
“The historian spent five years researching the definitive biography of the queen, uncovering letters that had never been seen by the public.”
Pitfall
He wrote his biography when he was eighty.
He wrote his autobiography when he was eighty.
A biography is written by someone else; an autobiography is written by the person themselves.
Antonyms
02the genre of writing
n. the art or business of writing about people's lives.
n. the branch of literature or the professional practice concerned with the lives of individuals.
“She is a professor who specialises in eighteenth-century biography.”
“Modern biography has shifted away from simple praise toward a more critical analysis of a subject's psychological motivations.”
Academic
Synonyms
03to write a life story
v. to write the story of someone's life.
v. to write a biography of a specific person. This transitive use is less common than the noun form.
“The author was asked to biography the late prime minister.”
“Few writers have attempted to biography such a reclusive figure, given the lack of primary source material available to the public.”
Formal · Literary
Real-World Examples
“When Overton sought permission to write Berger’s biography, though, the critic insisted that he wait a few years.” “What our reviewer said “His exuberant biography is thick with detail and lit by wonder.” Etymology
From New Latin biographia, formed from Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.