bibliography

American  

[bib-lee-og-ruh-fee] / ˌbɪb liˈɒg rə fi /

noun

plural

bibliographies

1. a complete or selective list of works compiled upon some common principle, as authorship, subject, place of publication, or printer.

2. a list of source materials that are used or consulted in the preparation of a work or that are referred to in the text.

3. a branch of library science dealing with the history, physical description, comparison, and classification of books and other works.

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bibliography British  

/ ˌbɪblɪəʊˈɡræfɪk, ˌbɪblɪˈɒɡrəfɪ /

noun

1. a list of books or other material on a subject

2. a list of sources used in the preparation of a book, thesis, etc

3. a list of the works of a particular author or publisher

4. 1. the study of the history, classification, etc, of literary material

   2. a work on this subject

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bibliography Cultural  

1. A list of the written sources of information on a subject. Bibliographies generally appear as a list at the end of a book or article. They may show what works the author used in writing the article or book, or they may list works that a reader might find useful.

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Other Word Forms

• bibliographer noun
• bibliographic adjective
• bibliographical adjective
• bibliographically adverb
• minibibliography noun

Etymology

Origin of bibliography

From the Greek word bibliographía, dating back to 1670–80. See biblio-, -graphy

Example Sentences

Mr. Loomis includes a bibliography but no footnotes, leaving us guessing about his other sources.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

“You have to have a certain number of photos, a nice range of topics, and a bibliography, though they don’t care if that’s in the book or on a website somewhere,” Brown explained.

From Slate • Nov. 3, 2025

Author and Ultimate Bookshelf contributing editor David Kipen digs for treasure in a bibliography of L.A. fiction — and celebrates the “ghost novels.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023

So I respond by handing the student a bibliography!

From Salon • Nov. 15, 2022

When Henige wrote Numbers from Nowhere, the fight about pre- Columbian population had already consumed forests’ worth of trees—his bibliography is ninety pages long.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann