biography

[bahy-og-ruh-fee, bee-]

noun

plural

biographies 

1. a written account of another person's life.

   the biography of Byron by Marchand.

2. an account in biographical form of an organization, society, theater, animal, etc.

3. such writings collectively.

4. the writing of biography as an occupation or field of endeavor.

biography

/ baɪˈɒɡrəfɪ, ˌbaɪəˈɡræfɪkəl /

noun

1. an account of a person's life by another

2. such accounts collectively

biography

1. The story of someone's life. The Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell, and Abraham Lincoln, by Carl Sandburg, are two noted biographies. The story of the writer's own life is an autobiography.

Other Word Forms

• biographer noun
• biographical adjective
• biographically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of biography¹

From the Greek word biographía, dating back to 1675–85. See bio-, -graphy

Example Sentences

As workers cleaned his Toyota Camry, a retired history professor waited on a bench, reading a biography of Ulysses S. Grant.

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Featuring selections in history, science, music, biography, style, mystery fiction, books for children and much more.

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Elizabeth Gaskell called the biography she wrote about her friend Charlotte Brontë—which helped cement the novelist’s literary fame—an “unlucky book.”

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Scott Eyman faces a triple challenge in his richly engrossing biography “Joan Crawford: A Woman’s Face.”

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Matthiessen’s many masks are on display in “True Nature,” a deeply researched and artfully executed biography by Lance Richardson.

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Related Words

• autobiography 
• diary 
• journal 
• life 
• life story www.thesaurus.com
• memoir 
• picture 
• profile 
• sketch