hagiography

WOTD – 23 March 2006    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἅγιος (hagios, “holy”) + -γραφία (-graphia, “writing”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ˌheɪdʒiˈɑɡrəfi/, X-SAMPA: /%heIdZi"Agr@fi/
• (UK) IPA: /ˌhæɡiˈɒɡrəfi/, X-SAMPA: /%h{gi"Qgr@fi/

Noun

hagiography (countable and uncountable; plural hagiographies)

1. (uncountable) The study of saints.
2. (countable) A biography of a saint.
3. (countable) A biography which expresses reverence and respect for its subject.
4. (pejorative) A biography which is uncritically supportive of its subject, often including embellishments or propaganda.

Translations

study of saints

• Danish: hagiografi (da) c
• Dutch: hagiografie (nl) f
• French: hagiographie (fr) f
• German: Lebensbeschreibung der Heiligen f

• Greek: αγιογραφία (el) (agiografía) f
• Italian: agiografía f
• Macedonian: хагиографија (mk) (hagiográfija) f
• Spanish: hagiografía (es) f

biography of a saint

• Danish: hagiografi (da) c
• Dutch: hagiografie (nl) f
• French: hagiographie (fr) f
• German: Lebensbeschreibung der Heiligen f
• Greek: αγιογραφία (el) (agiografía) f
• Hungarian: hagiográfia (hu)

• Italian: agiografía f
• Macedonian: житие (mk) (žítie) n, хагиографија (mk) (hagiográfija) f
• Russian: агиография (agiográfija) f, житийная литература (žitíjnaja literatúra) f
• Serbo-Croatian: житије (sh) (žitije) n
• Spanish: hagiografía f

biography which expresses reverence

• Dutch: hagiografie (nl) f

• Greek: αγιογραφία (el) (agiografía) f

See also

• mash note
• paean