Hagiography
/ˌhædʒiˈɒɡrəfi/noun
A biography of a saint or other venerated person, often idealized.
Did you know?Hagiography comes from Greek hagios (“holy”) + -graphia (“writing”), and that same writing-root appears in words like autograph and calligraphy—proof that words themselves were treated like a kind of ritual power.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
hagios
“holy, sacred”
Ancient Greek
Greek
-graphia
“writing, description, recording”
Late Greek / Byzantine Greek
Greek
hagiographia
“writing about saints; sacred biography”
Medieval Latin
Latin
hagiographia
“a saint’s life or sacred writing”
17th Century
English
hagiography
“a biography of saints or sacred persons”
Modern English
English
hagiography
“an idealized or worshipful biography”
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