hagiography

ha·gi·og·ra·phy

noun \-gē-ˈä-grə-fē, -jē-\

Definition of HAGIOGRAPHY

1

: biography of saints or venerated persons

2

: idealizing or idolizing biography

Examples of HAGIOGRAPHY

1. a hagiography about a famous politician
2. The book gives a good idea of his virtues without resorting to hagiography.

First Known Use of HAGIOGRAPHY

1821

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with HAGIOGRAPHY

bibliography, choreography, iconography, lexicography, oceanography

hagiography

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Literature describing the lives of the saints. Christian hagiography includes stories of saintly monks, bishops, princes, and virgins, with accounts of their martyrdom and of the miracles connected with their relics, tombs, icons, or statues. Written as early as the 2nd century and popular during the Middle Ages, hagiographies focus on lives of individual saints or on stories of a class of saints (e.g., martyrs).