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

Explanation

A bibliography is a list of writings by an author, such as the lengthy bibliography of Joyce Carol Oates, or a list of writings someone uses in a project, like the bibliography at the end of a research paper. Bibliography comes from the Greek word biblio, or "book," and graphos, which is "something written or drawn." So, a bibliography is made when someone writes a list of books or other written works. You may have included a bibliography with a research paper you have written, to give credit to your sources. However, due to the popularity of using internet sources instead of books these days, some writers prefer "Works Cited" over "Bibliography."

Example Sentences

Years ago, at a sparsely attended Sacramento library book sale, I bought “An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction, 1664-1970.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023

Compiling Sources for an Annotated Bibliography contain more information on both primary and secondary sources.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

One could make a similar claim for Terry Zobeck’s compulsively readable “A Trawl Among the Shelves: Lawrence Block Bibliography, 1958-2020.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 15, 2020

A Bernanke Bibliography Here are some books by and about Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman.

From New York Times • May 15, 2010

A Bibliography of Geodesy, Appendix 8, Report for 1902 of the U.S.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various