Etymology
Advertisement

hagiography (n.)

"sacred writing," especially of saints' lives, 1821, from hagio- "holy" + -graphy. Related: Hagiographic (1809); hagiographical (1580s); hagiographer (1650s).

Entries linking to hagiography

hagio- 
before vowels hagi-, word-forming element meaning "of a saint, saintly, holy," from Greek hagios "sacred, devoted to the gods" (of things), "holy, pure" (of persons), in Ecclesiastical Greek, "a saint," which is perhaps from PIE *yag- "to worship, reverence" (source also of Greek agnos "chaste," Sanskrit yajati "reveres (a god) with sacrifices, worships," Old Persian ayadana "temple").
-graphy 
word-forming element meaning "process of writing or recording" or "a writing, recording, or description" (in modern use especially in forming names of descriptive sciences), from French or German -graphie, from Greek -graphia "description of," used in abstract nouns from graphein "write, express by written characters," earlier "to draw, represent by lines drawn," originally "to scrape, scratch" (on clay tablets with a stylus), from PIE root *gerbh- "to scratch, carve" (see carve).
Advertisement
Advertisement
Definitions of hagiography

hagiography (n.)
a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person (especially a person who is a saint);
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near hagiography

hagged

haggis

haggle

hagiarchy

hagio-

hagiography

hagiolatry

hagiology

hag-ridden

Hague

hah

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper