historiography

noun

his·​to·​ri·​og·​ra·​phy hi-ˌstȯr-ē-ˈä-grə-fē 

1

a

: the writing of history

especially : the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particulars from the authentic materials, and the synthesis of particulars into a narrative that will stand the test of critical methods

b

: the principles, theory, and history of historical writing

a course in historiography

2

: the product of historical writing : a body of historical literature

a survey of the country's historiography

historiographical

hi-ˌstȯr-ē-ə-ˈgra-fi-kəl 

adjective

or less commonly historiographic

hi-ˌstȯr-ē-ə-ˈgra-fik 

historiographically

hi-ˌstȯr-ē-ə-ˈgra-fi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Examples of historiography in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By focusing on the methods used by Haitians living outside of urban environments to survive under slavery, colonialism, and now global modernity, Casimir shifts our focus away from the traditional subjects of Haitian historiography, the elites and those who recorded their histories. —Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025

Portraiture and painting were forms of historiography. —Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2025

American historiography of the Civil War would be dominated by the Confederate-friendly into the middle of the twentieth century, providing intellectual backbone for the American version of apartheid. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 5 Oct. 2025

Tamas’s comment alludes to a famous observation by historian Richard Hofstadter, a giant of mid-20th-century political historiography. —Joseph Thorndike, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

see historiographer

First Known Use

1569, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for historiography

• arteriography
• autobiography
• biogeography
• cholangiography
• cinematography
• photolithography
• photomicrography
• ultrasonography
• ventriculography
• angiocardiography
• electrocardiography
• arthrography