noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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CMU ARPABET:B AY0 AA1 G R AH0 F ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The writer of a biography; a professional writer of biographies.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
someone who writes an account of a person's life
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gweyh3-der. Ancient Greek βίος (bíos) Proto-Indo-European *gerbh- Proto-Hellenic *grə́phō Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω (grắphō) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Ancient Greek -ᾱ (-ā) Ancient Greek -η (-ē) Ancient Greek γραφή (graphḗ) Ancient Greek -γραφία (-graphía) Ancient Greek βιογραφίᾱ (biographíā)der. New Latin biographiabor. English biography Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English biographer From biography + -er.
Across languages
Translations
41 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
biograf
— the writer of a biography
Armenian:
կենսագիր
(kensagir)
— the writer of a biography
Asturian:
biógrafu
— the writer of a biography
Belarusian:
біёграф
(bijóhraf)
— the writer of a biography
Bulgarian:
биограф
(biograf)
— the writer of a biography
Bulgarian:
биографка
(biografka)
— the writer of a biography
Bulgarian:
животописец
(životopisec)
— the writer of a biography
Catalan:
biògraf
— the writer of a biography
Chinese Mandarin:
傳記作家 /传记作家
(zhuànjì zuòjiā)
— the writer of a biography
Chinese Mandarin:
傳記作者 /传记作者
(zhuànjì zuòzhě)
— the writer of a biography
Czech:
biograf
— the writer of a biography
Czech:
životopisec
— the writer of a biography
Dutch:
biograaf
— the writer of a biography
Esperanto:
biografo
— the writer of a biography
Finnish:
elämäkerturi
— the writer of a biography
Finnish:
elämäkerran kirjoittaja
— the writer of a biography
French:
biographe
— the writer of a biography
Galician:
biógrafo
— the writer of a biography
German:
Biograf
— the writer of a biography
Greek:
βιογράφος
(viográfos)
— the writer of a biography
Hungarian:
életrajzíró
— the writer of a biography
Hungarian:
biográfus
— the writer of a biography
Irish:
beathaisnéisí
— the writer of a biography
Italian:
biografo
— the writer of a biography
Macedonian:
биогра́ф
(biográf)
— the writer of a biography
Macedonian:
животописец
(životopisec)
— the writer of a biography
Māori:
kaituhi haurongo
— the writer of a biography
Norwegian Bokmål:
biograf
— the writer of a biography
Norwegian Nynorsk:
biograf
— the writer of a biography
Occitan:
biograf
— the writer of a biography
Polish:
biograf
— the writer of a biography
Polish:
biografka
— the writer of a biography
Portuguese:
biógrafo
— the writer of a biography
Romanian:
biograf
— the writer of a biography
Romanian:
biografă
— the writer of a biography
Russian:
био́граф
(biógraf)
— the writer of a biography
Spanish:
biógrafo
— the writer of a biography
Spanish:
biógrafa
— the writer of a biography
Swedish:
levnadstecknare
— the writer of a biography
Thai:
นักเขียนชีวประวัติ
— the writer of a biography
Ukrainian:
біо́граф
(bióhraf)
— the writer of a biography