biography meaning in oxford dictionary

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Meaning of biography in English

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• This biography offers a few glimpses of his life before he became famous .
• Her biography revealed that she was not as rich as everyone thought .
• The biography was a bit of a rush job .
• The biography is an attempt to uncover the inner man.
• The biography is woven from the many accounts which exist of things she did.
• exercise book
• novelistically
• young adult

biography | American Dictionary

• biographical

Examples of biography

Translations of biography.

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Word of the Day

to try to persuade a customer who is already buying something to buy more, or to buy something more expensive

Searching out and tracking down: talking about finding or discovering things

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[ bahy- og -r uh -fee , bee- ]

the biography of Byron by Marchand.

• an account in biographical form of an organization, society, theater, animal, etc.
• such writings collectively.
• the writing of biography as an occupation or field of endeavor.

/ baɪˈɒɡrəfɪ; ˌbaɪəˈɡræfɪkəl /

• an account of a person's life by another
• such accounts collectively
• The story of someone's life. The Life of Samuel Johnson , by James Boswell , and Abraham Lincoln , by Carl Sandburg , are two noted biographies. The story of the writer's own life is an autobiography .

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Derived forms.

• biˈographer , noun
• biographical , adjective
• ˌbioˈgraphically , adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of biography 1

Example Sentences

Barrett didn’t say anything on Tuesday to contradict our understanding of her ideological leanings based on her past rulings, past statements and biography.

Republicans, meanwhile, focused mostly on her biography — including her role as a working mother of seven and her Catholic faith — and her credentials, while offering few specifics about her record as a law professor and judge.

She delivered an inspiring biography at one point, reflecting on the sacrifice her mother made to emigrate to the United States.

As Walter Isaacson pointed out in his biography of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin proposed the postal system as a vital network to bond together the 13 disparate colonies.

Serving that end, the book is not an in-depth biography as much as a summary of Galileo’s life and science, plus a thorough recounting of the events leading up to his famous trial.

The Amazon biography for an author named Papa Faal mentions both Gambia and lists a military record that matches the FBI report.

For those unfamiliar with Michals, an annotated biography and useful essays are included.

Did you envision your Pryor biography as extending your previous investigation—aesthetically and historically?

But Stephen Kotkin's new biography reveals a learned despot who acted cunningly to take advantage of the times.

Watching novelists insult one another is one of the primary pleasures of his biography.

He also published two volumes of American Biography, a work which his death abridged.

Mme. de Chaulieu gave her husband the three children designated in the duc's biography.

The biography of great men always has been, and always will be read with interest and profit.

I like biography far better than fiction myself: fiction is too free.

The Bookman: "A more entertaining narrative whether in biography or fiction has not appeared in recent years."

Related Words

• autobiography

Definition of 'biography'

biography in British English

Biography in american english, examples of 'biography' in a sentence biography, cobuild collocations biography, trends of biography.

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• biographically
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Related terms of biography

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• brief biography
• short biography
• author biography
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Definition of biography

Did you know.

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.

Examples of biography in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'biography.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Late Greek biographia , from Greek bi- + -graphia -graphy

1665, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Dictionary Entries Near biography

biographize

Cite this Entry

“Biography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biography. Accessed 17 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of biography, more from merriam-webster on biography.

Nglish: Translation of biography for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of biography for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about biography

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What’s New: May 2024

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Gillick [née Tutin], Mary Gaskell (1881–1965), sculptor and medallist

A student at Nottingham School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London, Mary Gillick exhibited portrait medals at the Royal Academy for over fifty years. In 1952 she won the competition to design the portrait for the first UK coinage of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Life of the day, may 9, 2024, what's new: may 2024.

Welcome to the 110th update of the Oxford DNB, which adds thirteen new articles, containing fourteen new lives, with a special focus on women artists. 

APRIL 9, 2024

2024 update of the oxford dictionary of national biography.

The April 2024 of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ( Oxford DNB ) adds new biographies of 276 men and women who died in the year 2020.

What’s New: April 2024

Welcome to the 109th update of the Oxford DNB , which adds biographies of 276 individuals who died in the year 2020: 264 with their own entries and twelve added to existing entries as 'co-subjects'.

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date: 17 May 2024

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The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of over 60,000 men and women who shaped the history of the British Isles and of Britons worldwide, from the ‘earliest times’ to the 21st century.   

The ODNB is the world’s largest collaborative research project in the humanities, providing concise, up-to-date biographies written by 13,000 specialists from 52 countries. In addition to its more than 60,000 biographies, the Dictionary includes more than 500 thematic essays (setting individuals in historical context), and 11,500 portrait likenesses, researched in association with the National Portrait Gallery, London.

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The ODNB was first published in 2004, in 60 print volumes and online. Since 2004 a continuation project has extended and developed the ODNB’s online edition.

Updates are published monthly. Our January update is composed of biographies of people who have died in the very recent past (all people in the ODNB are deceased). Our other monthly updates are gathered around themes of related lives and also extend the Dictionary’s coverage across earlier periods in the light of recent scholarship and publications. Updates also revise existing biographies in response to new research. Since 2004 we have added around 5000 biographies and thematic essays.

Dictionary editors also run a programme of public engagement with other national institutions (museums, galleries, the National Trust, English Heritage, and national biographies worldwide), as well as with British public libraries and university research projects in the UK and the United States. The Dictionary's popular podcast series is available on itunes and via our website.

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The ODNB have recorded over 250 life stories from the  Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford DNB) –  Boudicca  to  Bobby Moore ,  Mrs Simpson  to  Mills & Boon .

You can download an individual life or subscribe to their fortnightly biography podcast,  released on iTunes as ‘Oxford Biographies’ . Each episode lasts between 10 and 30 minutes.

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† turrell noun

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What does the noun turrell mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun turrell . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

This word is now obsolete. It is last recorded around the early 1700s.

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

Where does the noun turrell come from?

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun turrell is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for turrell is from 1611, in the writing of Randle Cotgrave, lexicographer.

turrell is perhaps a borrowing from French.

Nearby entries

• turps, n. 1823–
• turquesque, n. 1594
• turquet, n.¹ 1625
• turquet, n.² 1725
• turquin, n. 1600–1811
• turquoise, n. 1398–
• turquoise-berry, n. 1898–
• turr, n. 1794–
• turr, n. 1886–
• turr, v. a1400–
• turrell, n. 1611–1708
• turret, n. c1330–
• turret, v. 1450–
• turret-crown, n. 1886–
• turret-deck, n. 1904–
• turreted, adj. a1550–
• turret head, n. a1884–
• turreting, n. 1847–
• turret-lathe, n. 1875–
• turret-light, n. 1972–
• turretry, n. 1824–

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Meaning & use

Entry history for turrell, n..

turrell, n. was first published in 1916; not yet revised.

turrell, n. was last modified in March 2024.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into turrell, n. in March 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1916)

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Citation details

Factsheet for turrell, n., browse entry.