biography

noun bi·og·ra·phy \ bī-ˈä-grə-fē also bē- \

Updated on: 15 Apr 2018

Definition of biography

plural biographies

1 : a usually written history of a person's life

a new biography of Abraham Lincoln

2 : biographical writings as a whole

the genre of biography

3 : an account of the life of something (such as an animal, a coin, or a building)

the biography of the commonwealth

See biography defined for English-language learners

See biography defined for kids

Examples of biography in a Sentence

a new biography of Abraham Lincoln
an unauthorized biography of the actor gave him some serious headaches

Recent Examples of biography from the Web

But Jobs, who died in 2011, sold all but a single share of his then-$100 million stake after he was ousted from the company in 1985, according to Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography.

— tom metcalf, Bloomberg.com, "Apple Is the Richest Company, So Where Are the Billionaires?," 11 Apr. 2018
The account’s name and biography do not purport to represent Bynes.

— elizabeth leonard, PEOPLE.com, "Amanda Bynes 'Terrorized' by Imposter Twitter Accounts 'Mocking Mental Illness,' Says Lawyer," 11 Apr. 2018
Virtually all histories of the United States from that time contained a version of the story, as did numerous magazines, children’s books, biographies of famous Americans, and guidebooks.

— barbara cutter, Smithsonian, "The Gruesome Story of Hannah Duston, Whose Slaying of Indians Made Her an American Folk “Hero”," 9 Apr. 2018
This is a less than perfect biography in other ways.

— dwight garner, New York Times, "‘Berenice Abbott’ Captures a Large and Star-Studded Life," 9 Apr. 2018
On Wednesday evening, Baker was still listed as director on the department’s home page, though her name, photo and biography have since been deleted.

— kathleen pender, San Francisco Chronicle, "Sudden departure of state industrial relations head Baker stuns labor, business," 5 Apr. 2018
Spectrum News 13 anchor Ybeth Bruzual is among 19 Central Florida women whose biographies have been read into the Congressional Record.

— hal boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Ybeth Bruzual honored in Congressional Record," 3 Apr. 2018
With the royal wedding just weeks aways is no wonder a Meghan Markle biography book would surface.

— maria puente, USA TODAY, "New bio: Meghan Markle is a 'social climber' who wants to be 'Princess Diana 2.0'," 2 Apr. 2018
While the unofficial biography contains a number of revelations, the most shocking has to be the way that Markle left her first husband, movie producer, Trevor Engelson.

— amy mackelden, Marie Claire, "Meghan Markle "Abruptly" Ended Her First Marriage in the Most Brutal Way," 2 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biography.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

So You've Been Asked to Submit a biography

In a library, the word biography refers both to a kind of book and to a section where books of that kind are found. Each biography tells the story of a real person's life. A biography may be about someone who lived long ago, recently, or even someone who is still living, though in the last case it must necessarily be incomplete. The term autobiography refers to a biography written by the person it's about. Autobiographies are of course also necessarily incomplete.

Sometimes biographies are significantly shorter than a book—something anyone who's been asked to submit a biography for, say, a conference or a community newsletter will be glad to know. Often the word in these contexts is shortened to bio, a term that can be both a synonym of biography and a term for what is actually a biographical sketch: a brief description of a person's life. These kinds of biographies—bios—vary, but many times they are only a few sentences long. Looking at bios that have been used in the same context can be a useful guide in determining what to put in your own.