Word of the Day : July 25, 2021

hagiography \hag-ee-AH-gruh-fee\ noun

Definition

1 : biography of saints or venerated persons

2 : idealizing or idolizing biography

Did You Know?

Like biography and autograph, the word hagiography has to do with the written word. The combining form -graphy comes from Greek graphein, meaning "to write." Hagio- comes from a Greek word that means "saintly" or "holy." This origin is seen in Hagiographa, the Greek designation of the Ketuvim, the third part of the Jewish Scriptures. English's hagiography, though it can refer to biography of actual saints, is these days more often applied to biography that treats ordinary human subjects as if they were saints.

Aired July 25, 2021

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