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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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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:

I first met Jacob Rees-Mogg years ago, when I contacted him about bringing his father’s 1975 monograph on the history and causes of inflation back into print.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

The monograph is currently in production with Cambridge University Press and is expected to be released in 2026 or 2027.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 16, 2025

She finds herself in good company: Soutine’s friend Faure suggested in his 1929 monograph on the artist that his work contained “the spark of God.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

He assigned his student a scholarly monograph, “Alienation: Marx’s Conception of Man in a Capitalist Society,” to begin his long education in how leftists think.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025

Meggers and Evans provided the answers three years later in an influential monograph.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

He was also an art historian, producing monographs on Piet Mondrian, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine and other painters.

From New York Times ● May 10, 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

The thick monographs on Andy Warhol, Magritte and Cézanne arranged on top of baby pink, blue and orange filing cabinets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2023

As a rule, titles of monographs and works of a specialistic character which have been already given in the footnotes are not repeated in the Bibliography.

From A Literary History of the Arabs by Reynold Nicholson

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

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

From Dangerous Ages by Dame Rose Macaulay

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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