Biographies

/baɪˈɒɡrəfiz/

nounBeginner📊CommonLiterature
1 meaning2 questions

Definitions

1

A detailed description or account of someone's life.

/baɪˈɒɡrəfiz/

nounneutralBeginner
Literature

Accounts of a person's life.

I'm reading a biography of Marie Curie.

💡 Simply: A story about someone's life.

More Examples

2

His biography details his rise to fame and subsequent downfall.

How It's Used

Literature

"The library contains numerous biographies of famous historical figures."

Education

"Students read biographies to learn about influential people."

From Middle French biographie, from Greek bios ('life') + graphein ('to write').

The word 'biography' has been used in its current sense since the 18th century.

Memory tip

Bio (life) + graphy (writing)

Word Origin

LanguageGreek
Original meaning

"bios (life) + graphein (to write)"

Base: biography
read a biographywrite a biographybiography of

Common misspellings

biographysbiograhiesbiografies

Usage

20%Spoken
80%Written