biography

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

|Updated on: 4 Aug 2018

Examples: biography in a Sentence

Editor's Note: So You've Been Asked to Submit a biography

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

That said, this biography makes an important contribution to a fuller understanding of Mr. Willughby’s pioneering career.

— david holahan, The Christian Science Monitor, "'The Wonderful Mr. Willughby' profiles a pioneer of ornithology and early scientist," 12 July 2018
The biography by Stern and Wermiel, which drew heavily on interviews with Brennan, is illuminating on these questions.

— michael s. rosenwald, Washington Post, "Catholics on the court: The historical struggle between canon and constitutional law," 8 July 2018
Read more: Mayor should yank statue of ex-Confederate soldier, councilman says But Fischer said Castleman's biography is complicated history and includes his role as a founder of Louisville's park system.

— phillip m. bailey, The Courier-Journal, "John Castleman statue isn't a Confederate monument, Greg Fischer says," 3 July 2018
Less than three weeks after celebrity chef, writer, and television personality Anthony Bourdain was found dead in his hotel room in France at the age of 61, an official Bourdain biography is in the works.

— kevin slane, BostonGlobe.com, "An Anthony Bourdain biography will be published in 2019," 28 June 2018
Today, Grubstreet reported on a tweet from cookbook author Paula Forbes that reveals an Anthony Bourdain biography is in the works.

— olivia harrison, refinery29.com, "An Anthony Bourdain Biography Is In The Works," 27 June 2018
The biography that beguiles his supporters is replete with danger signals.

— The Economist, "AMLO, Mexico’s answer to Donald Trump," 23 June 2018
This biography examines the life of Joseph P. Kennedy, the founder of the 20th century’s most famous political dynasty.

— polina marinova, Fortune, "18 Biographies of the Most Successful People in Business," 22 June 2018
And longtime Cincinnati sportswriter John Erardi's biography about former Big Red Machine great Tony Pérez is a fascinating one.

— dave clark, Cincinnati.com, "Tony Pérez book is first about only Cuban Major Leaguer in National Baseball Hall of Fame," 3 May 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.