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Synonyms

monograph

American  
[mon-uh-graf, -grahf] / ˈmɒn əˌgræf, -ˌgrɑf /

noun

  1. a treatise on a particular subject, as a biographical study or study of the works of one artist.

  2. a highly detailed and thoroughly documented study or paper written about a limited area of a subject or field of inquiry.

    scholarly monographs on medieval pigments.

  3. an account of a single thing or class of things, as of a species of organism.


verb (used with object)

  • monographs,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • monographed,
    past participle,  past
  • monographing
    present participle
  1. to write a monograph about.

monograph British  
/ ˈmɒnəˌɡrɑːf, -ˌɡræf /

noun

  1. a paper, book, or other work concerned with a single subject or aspect of a subject

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to write a monograph on

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Present

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Etymology

Origin of monograph

First recorded in 1815–25; mono- + -graph

Explanation

A scholar who is fascinated with a subject and knows a lot about it might write a monograph, or a long, detailed paper on one topic. If your favorite subject in school is the study of insects, you may one day write a monograph on entomology, full of details about beetles and wasps. A monograph is usually researched carefully, with plenty of footnotes along the way. The thesis or dissertation a college student writes as a requirement for getting a degree is one type of monograph. The word comes from the Greek mono, "single," and graph, "something written."

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing monograph

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.

See Examples For:

One evening, poring through the picturesque archives at the Yale Club while researching her monograph on memory and mind palace theory, Béatrice stumbles upon a curious audiotape.

From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026

The show is accompanied by Cowin’s first full-scale monograph.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Because those peptides aren’t components of an approved drug and don’t carry a USP monograph, compounders weren’t allowed to dispense them anyway.

From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2026

The expedition that led to this discovery began with a brief note in a 1950s monograph.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026

He had a monograph with him, published by the German Association of Prison Officials.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

Across some 15 books and monographs, Dr. Langer insisted on a searing interpretation of the Holocaust as a moral black hole from which not even meaning can escape.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024

More than 20 monographs of Griffin's work have been published.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2024

He set out to write a single paper on a barnacle he called “Mr. Arthrobalanus” and ended up completing four monographs between 1846 and 1854 on diversity among hundreds of different barnacle species.

From National Geographic ● Aug. 23, 2023

Art Catalogues is her unique legacy, an extraordinary compendium of gallery and museum monographs and other books on hundreds, and maybe thousands, of artists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2022

I read a good many monographs on the Pucelle, of various values; some real contributions to history, others mere second-hand cookings-up of well-known and often-used material.

From A Book of Ghosts by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

It came by the afternoon post—the big, mauve, scented, sprawled sheets, dashingly monographed across one corner.

From Dangerous Ages by Dame Rose Macaulay

The British species of Lumbricus have never been carefully monographed; but we may judge of their probable number from those inhabiting neighbouring countries.

From The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms, with observations on their habits by Charles Darwin

Discovered, and partly described, by F. Ameghino, the bones have been sumptuously monographed by F.P.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

They have recalled many a puzzle through which I passed when monographing the Cirripedia; and your book in those days would have been quite invaluable to me.

From Life and Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Sir Francis Darwin

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