bibliography

noun

bib·​li·​og·​ra·​phy ˌbi-blē-ˈä-grə-fē 

plural bibliographies

1

: the history, identification, or description of writings or publications

2

a

: a list often with descriptive or critical notes of writings relating to a particular subject, period, or author

a bibliography of modern poetry

b

: a list of works written by an author or printed by a publishing house

compiled a complete bibliography of John Donne

3

: the works or a list of the works referred to in a text or consulted by the author in its production

The book's bibliography contains over 400 items.

bibliographic

ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈgra-fik 

adjective

or less commonly bibliographical

ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈgra-fi-kəl 

bibliographically

ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈgra-fi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of bibliography in a Sentence

The instructor provided the students with an excellent bibliography on local history.

The book includes a lengthy bibliography.

Recent Examples on the Web

The White House strategy on straws lists that evidence, backed up by a seven-page bibliography. —Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025

The price is final and includes the title page, bibliography, formatting, and in-text sources. —Rowan Briggs, Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2025

Chances are, not all the essentials (like the bibliography or the title page) are included in the price. —Rowan Briggs, Mercury News, 24 Mar. 2025

New users can nab a 15% discount, but returning users also get freebies, with no-cost title and bibliography pages, formatting, and outlines included with each order. —Rowan Briggs, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably from New Latin bibliographia, from Greek, the copying of books, from bibli- + -graphia -graphy

First Known Use

1689, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bibliography

• choreography
• chromatography
• crystallography
• hagiography
• iconography
• lexicography
• metallography
• myelography
• oceanography
• physiography
• plethysmography
• polarography

Kids Definition

bibliography

noun

bib·​li·​og·​ra·​phy ˌbib-lē-ˈäg-rə-fē 

plural bibliographies

: a list of writings about a subject or author or by an author

bibliographic

ˌbib-lē-ə-ˈgraf-ik 

adjective

or bibliographical

-ˈgraf-i-kəl