biographer
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of biographer
First recorded in 1705–15; biograph(y) + -er 1
Explanation
A biographer is a writer who specializes in true stories of other people's lives. The finished books that biographers publish are called biographies. In some cases, well-known writers, actors, and other public figures work with biographers in order to collaborate on their own biographies. Other times, biographers research the lives of their subjects after they've died. In the 1660s, they were known as biographists. The root of all variations on biography is the Late Greek biographia, "description of life," from bio-, "life," and graphia, "record or account."
Vocabulary lists containing biographer
Words to Live By: Bio
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: bio
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: graph
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I love Peru very much, the Peruvian people, that is part of who I am," the US-born pontiff told his biographer Elise Ann Allen last year.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
According to Capra biographer Sam Wasson, the 83-year-old director made the trip from Southern California and sent along his own print to screen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Rockefeller was worth $900 million at his peak in 1913, according to biographer Ron Chernow.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Farage's biographer, the veteran political journalist Michael Crick, has also noticed a shift.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
“Without so much as a backward look,” his biographer observed, “Loomis quit Wall Street for good.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
