Etymograph

English

biography

Biography comes from Ancient Greek βιογραφίᾱ, and goes back to βίος ‘life’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβίος1‘life’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβιογραφίᾱ1biographíā
  3. New Latinmodernbiographia1
  4. Englishtodaybiography1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English biography

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβίοςWiktionary, English biography‘life’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβιογραφίᾱWiktionary, English biographybiographíā
  3. New LatinmodernbiographiaWiktionary, English biography
  4. EnglishtodaybiographyWiktionary, English biography

A compound of γρᾰ́φω ‘to scratch, cut into’ + γραφή ‘drawing’

Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’

Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’

Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω ‘to scratch, cut into’

Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’

Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’

Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω ‘to scratch, cut into’

Ancient Greek γραφή ‘drawing’

Linked words

through Ancient Greek βίος ‘life’

biology, antibiotic, bios, biotic, biota, 15 more

Today it means

noun A person's life story, especially one published.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “biography”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek βίος / biography

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