Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “biography” come from?

Biography derives from Latin biographia, from Ancient Greek βίος meaning "life," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷih₃wós and gʷeih₃w-.

biography (English): A person's life story, especially one published;...

Definitions

  1. A person's life story, especially one published;...

Ancestry of “biography”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1New Latinbiographiabiography
2Ancient Greekβίοςlife
3Proto-Indo-Europeangʷeyh₃-to live

Words derived from “biography”

  • autobiography
  • biographical
  • biographer
  • autobiographical
  • autobiographer
  • biographically
  • autobiographically
  • semiautobiographical
  • psychobiography
  • psychobiographical
  • biographee
  • nonautobiographical
  • psychobiographer
  • minibiography
  • photobiography
  • semibiographical
  • nonbiographical
  • biographize
  • pseudobiographical
  • heterobiography
  • semiautobiographically
  • biographette
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷeyh₃- →