autobiography

noun

au·​to·​bi·​og·​ra·​phy ˌȯ-tə-bī-ˈä-grə-fē How to pronounce autobiography (audio)
-bē-
plural autobiographies
: the biography of a person narrated by that person : a usually written account of a person's life in their own words
celebrity autobiographies
The fall and rise of Chrysler Corporation is an oft-told tale—three books on the subject have appeared already, including Lee Iacocca's bestselling autobiography.Jerry Flint
Frederick Douglass's autobiographies are invaluable both for what they reveal about antebellum slavery and for what they reveal about a remarkable American.Peter Kolchin
This last book … is part autobiography and part fiction, though it is listed as fiction.Mims Cushing
Some 400 crowded both floors of the bookstore and lined up around the block as Iggy [Pop] signed the entire stock of 200 copies of his autobiography "I Need More."Publishers Weekly
In recent years, the biggest-selling baseball books have been autobiographies of colorful personalities, written with the aid of collaborators.Ray Walters
The letters are arranged chronologically and episodically to form an autobiography.William S. McFeely

Examples of autobiography in a Sentence

I read her autobiography last year.
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Consider the life of Mary Prince, a remarkable Black Bermudian woman who endured the harrowing experience of enslavement and became the first to publish an autobiography detailing her journey as a slave. Shelby Stewart, Essence, 24 Oct. 2024 The first half is a classic autobiography, describing Navalny’s Soviet youth and his political awakening and fight against corruption, while the second half combines his diaries with the Instagram posts that his lawyers posted for him up until the final one, on January 17 of this year. Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 21 Oct. 2024 More cynically, these books are celebrity autobiographies for a polity that has seen healthier days. Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024 The fellowship applicants were required to be parents of children still in the household and could take a variety of forms, including memoirs, autobiography, biography, history, journalism, and even drama and poetry. Deb Harvell, arkansasonline.com, 29 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for autobiography 

Word History

Etymology

auto- + biography, perhaps after German Autobiographie

First Known Use

1797, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of autobiography was in 1797

Dictionary Entries Near autobiography

Cite this Entry

“Autobiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autobiography. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

autobiography

noun
au·​to·​bi·​og·​ra·​phy ˌȯt-ə-bī-ˈäg-rə-fē How to pronounce autobiography (audio)
-bē-
: a biography written by the person it is about
autobiographer noun
autobiographical adjective
also autobiographic
autobiographically adverb
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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