autobiography definition oxford english dictionary

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autobiography

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In its modern form, may be taken as writing that purposefully and self‐consciously provides an account of the author's life and incorporates feeling and introspection as well as empirical detail. In this sense, autobiographies are infrequent in English much before 1800. Although there are examples of autobiography in a quasi‐modern sense earlier than this (e.g. Bunyan's conversion narrative, Grace Abounding, 1666, and Margaret Cavendish', duchess of Newcastle's ‘A True Relation’, 1655–6) it is not until the early 19th cent. that the genre becomes established in English writing: Gibbon's Memoirs (1796) are a notable exception.

From 1800 onwards the introspective Protestantism of an earlier period and the Romantic Movement's displeasure with the fact/feeling distinction of the Enlightenment provided for personal narratives of a largely new kind. They were characterized by a self‐scrutiny and vivid sentiment that produced what is now referred to, following Robert Southey (1809), as autobiography . Early in the 19th cent. Wordsworth gives in The Prelude (1805) a sustained reflection upon the circumstances of he himself being the subject of his own work; and in the second half of the century Newman in his Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864) publicly and originally reveals a personal spiritual journey. This latter, with its public disclosure of the private domain, had a dramatic and far‐reaching influence upon the intelligentsia of late Victorian society.

In the 20th cent. autobiography became increasingly valued not so much as an empirical record of historical events but as providing an epitome of personal sensibility among the intricate vicissitudes of cultural change. Vera Brittain achieved a seriousness of observation and affect to provide in Testament of Youth (1933) a major work on the conduct of the First World War. In the area of more domestic but no less social concerns J. R. Ackerley in his My Father and Myself (1968) constructed an autobiography of painful frankness in a disquisition upon his unusual family relations, his affection for his dog, and the tribulations of his homosexuality. More recently Tim Lott in The Scent of Dead Roses (1996) discussed the suicide of his mother and amalgamated autobiography, family history, and social analysis in a virtuoso performance of control and pathos. The truthfulness or not of autobiography is essentially a matter that must be left to biographers and philosophers. The plausibility of an autobiography, however, must find its authentication by the degree to which it can correspond to some approximation of its context.

From: autobiography in The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature »

Subjects: Literature

The emergence of autobiography

Types of autobiography.

Hear about “Autobiography of Mark Twain” and the Mark Twain Papers at the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley

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autobiography

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Table Of Contents

autobiography , the biography of oneself narrated by oneself. Autobiographical works can take many forms, from the intimate writings made during life that were not necessarily intended for publication (including letters, diaries , journals , memoirs , and reminiscences) to a formal book-length autobiography.

Formal autobiographies offer a special kind of biographical truth: a life, reshaped by recollection, with all of recollection’s conscious and unconscious omissions and distortions. The novelist Graham Greene said that, for this reason, an autobiography is only “a sort of life” and used the phrase as the title for his own autobiography (1971).

There are but few and scattered examples of autobiographical literature in antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the 2nd century bce the Chinese classical historian Sima Qian included a brief account of himself in the Shiji (“Historical Records”). It may be stretching a point to include, from the 1st century bce , the letters of Cicero (or, in the early Christian era, the letters of Saint Paul ), and Julius Caesar ’s Commentaries tell little about Caesar, though they present a masterly picture of the conquest of Gaul and the operations of the Roman military machine at its most efficient. But Saint Augustine ’s Confessions , written about 400 ce , stands out as unique: though Augustine put Christianity at the centre of his narrative and considered his description of his own life to be merely incidental, he produced a powerful personal account, stretching from youth to adulthood, of his religious conversion.

Confessions has much in common with what came to be known as autobiography in its modern, Western sense, which can be considered to have emerged in Europe during the Renaissance , in the 15th century. One of the first examples was produced in England by Margery Kempe , a religious mystic of Norfolk. In her old age Kempe dictated an account of her bustling, far-faring life, which, however concerned with religious experience, reveals her personality. One of the first full-scale formal autobiographies was written a generation later by a celebrated humanist publicist of the age, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, after he was elevated to the papacy, in 1458, as Pius II . In the first book of his autobiography—misleadingly named Commentarii , in evident imitation of Caesar—Pius II traces his career up to becoming pope; the succeeding 11 books (and a fragment of a 12th, which breaks off a few months before his death in 1464) present a panorama of the age.

The autobiography of the Italian physician and astrologer Gironimo Cardano and the adventures of the goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini in Italy of the 16th century; the uninhibited autobiography of the English historian and diplomat Lord Herbert of Cherbury, in the early 17th; and Colley Cibber ’s Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber, Comedian in the early 18th—these are representative examples of biographical literature from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment. The latter period itself produced three works that are especially notable for their very different reflections of the spirit of the times as well as of the personalities of their authors: the urbane autobiography of Edward Gibbon , the great historian; the plainspoken, vigorous success story of an American who possessed all talents, Benjamin Franklin ; and the introspection of a revolutionary Swiss-born political and social theorist, the Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau —the latter leading to two autobiographical explorations in poetry during the Romantic period in England, William Wordsworth ’s Prelude and Lord Byron ’s Childe Harold , cantos III and IV.

An autobiography may be placed into one of four very broad types: thematic, religious, intellectual , and fictionalized. The first grouping includes books with such diverse purposes as The Americanization of Edward Bok (1920) and Adolf Hitler ’s Mein Kampf (1925, 1927). Religious autobiography claims a number of great works, ranging from Augustine and Kempe to the autobiographical chapters of Thomas Carlyle ’s Sartor Resartus and John Henry Cardinal Newman ’s Apologia in the 19th century. That century and the early 20th saw the creation of several intellectual autobiographies, including the severely analytical Autobiography of the philosopher John Stuart Mill and The Education of Henry Adams . Finally, somewhat analogous to the novel as biography is the autobiography thinly disguised as, or transformed into, the novel. This group includes such works as Samuel Butler ’s The Way of All Flesh (1903), James Joyce ’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), George Santayana ’s The Last Puritan (1935), and the novels of Thomas Wolfe . Yet in all of these works can be detected elements of all four types; the most outstanding autobiographies often ride roughshod over these distinctions.

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autobiography

[ aw-t uh -bahy- og -r uh -fee , -bee- , aw-toh- ]

a history of a person's life written or told by that person.

/ ˌɔːtəʊbaɪˈɒɡrəfɪ; ˌɔːtəbaɪ- /

an account of a person's life written or otherwise recorded by that person
A literary work about the writer's own life. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa are autobiographical.

Derived Forms

ˌautobiˈographer , noun

Other Words From

auto·bi·ogra·pher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of autobiography 1

Example Sentences

In so doing, she gave us an autobiography that has held up for more than a century.

His handwritten autobiography reawakens in Lee a longing to know her motherland.

His elocution, perfected on stage and evident in television and film, make X’s autobiography an easy yet informative listen.

The book is not so much an autobiography of Hastings — or even Netflix’s origin story.

By contrast, Shing-Tung Yau says in his autobiography that the Calabi-Yau manifold was given its name by other people eight years after he proved its existence, which Eugenio Calabi had conjectured some 20 years before that.

Glow: The Autobiography of Rick JamesRick James David Ritz (Atria Books) Where to begin?

Hulanicki was the subject of a 2009 documentary, Beyond Biba, based on her 2007 autobiography From A to Biba.

And it was also during the phase of the higher autobiography.

“Nighttime was the worst,” Bennett wrote in his autobiography.

Then I picked up a book that shredded my facile preconceptions—Hard Stuff: The Autobiography of Mayor Coleman Young.

No; her parents had but small place in that dramatic autobiography that Daphne was now constructing for herself.

His collected works, with autobiography, were published in 1865 under the editorship of Charles Hawkins.

But there is one point about the book that deserves some considering, its credibility as autobiography.

I thought you were anxious for leisure to complete your autobiography.

The smallest fragment of a genuine autobiography seems to me valuable for the student of past epochs.

Related Words

Look up a word, learn it forever.

Autobiography, /ˈɔdəˈbaɪˌɑgrəfi/, /ɔtəbaɪˈɒgrəfi/.

Other forms: autobiographies

You are writing an autobiography when you write your own life story. A writer who writes an autobiography is like a painter who paints a self-portrait.

If you intend to write your autobiography one day, it might be a good idea to start recording notes about your life in a diary. The author Gertrude Stein was being clever when she poked fun at the very idea of autobiography when she wrote her own memoirs but titled them The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas , instead of The Autobiography of Gertrude Stein .

noun a biography of yourself see more see less types: memoir an account of the author's personal experiences type of: biography , life , life history , life story an account of the series of events making up a person's life

Vocabulary lists containing autobiography

Are you ready to learn the facts of life? Then review these words from the Greek root bio , meaning "life" or "way of living."

Learn these list of words that contain the Greek root auto , meaning "self."

Practice this vocabulary list and explore words that contain the Greek roots graph ("write/writing") and gram ("written thing").

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Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement..

Q. What's the difference between an autobiography, biography or a memoir?

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Answered By: Jeffrey Orrico Last Updated: Jul 18, 2023 Views: 47585

While each of these forms of writing illuminates the life, work, and worldview of an individual, they are differentiated by the degree of objectivity and factual content, as well stylistic approaches and perspectives.

Note: The below definitions are from the Oxford English Dictionary [electronic resource.]

Autobiography, n. –

Typically in book form, an autobiography is an account of a person’s life told by the himself or herself. An autobiography tends to be a more general history, while a memoir focuses on a specific piece of the author's life.

Title	Autobiography : I wonder as I wander / edited with an introduction by Joseph McLaren.
Author	Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967.

Biography, n. –

A biography is a written account (although it may come in other forms such as recorded or visual media) of events and circumstances of another person’s life. Most commonly written about a historical or public figure, it profiles a person’s life or life’s work.

Title	Ella Fitzgerald : a biography of the first lady of jazz / Stuart Nicholson.
Author	Nicholson, Stuart.

Diary, n. –

A daily record of personal matters, transactions or events affecting the writer personally or the result of the author’s observations.

Title	The diary of a young girl : the definitive edition / Anne Frank ; edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler ; translated by Susan Massotty.
Author	Frank, Anne, 1929-1945.

Journal, adj. AND n. –

Often referring to a more detailed account than that of a diary, a journal contains events or matters of personal interest, kept for one’s own use. Either in the form of daily accounts or entries for when events occur.

Title	The unabridged journals of Sylvia Plath, 1950-1962 / edited by Karen V. Kukil.
Author	Plath, Sylvia.

Memoir, n. –

A record of events or history from the personal knowledge, experience, perspective or special source information of the author. Frequently include autobiographic reminiscences. Memoirs tend to cover in detail a specific aspect of an author's life, while an autobiography is a more general history.

Title	A Vietcong memoir / Truong Nhu Tang, with David Chanoff and Doan Van Toai.
Author	Truong, Nhu Tang.

Narrative, n. –

When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal—allowing students to express themselves in a creative and, quite often, moving ways.

Purdue Online Writing Lab

Expository, n. –

The expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. This can be accomplished through comparison and contrast, definition, example, the analysis of cause and effect, etc.

Purdue Online Writing Lab

Oral history, n. –

A story or collection of stories or past events that have been passed down by word of mouth. Sometimes including record oral histories, this form of history relies on compiling recollections from people who were told these histories or whom lived these stories.

Conducting Oral Histories with Veterans

In recent years, publishers have avoided classifying life stories as “autobiographies”, with the attendant expectation of editorial fact-checking. By using a classification such as “memoir” or “personal essay” or “narrative”, a number of works later determined to be mostly or entirely fictional have been initially presented as nonfiction (e.g. A Thousand Little Pieces by James Frey). As when evaluating other research materials, it is important to consider whether the author is objective and complete in his or her writing.

In addition, only a biographer writing after the subject’s death is able to relate the events surrounding the death and the post-death consensus as to the individual’s significance.

Nonetheless, the personal narrative, even if subjective or incomplete, may add to one’s understanding of the individual’s values and viewpoint.

For briefer articles on individuals, try the biographies contained in print and online reference works, including:

Gale In Context: Biography
American National Biography
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Below are some library resources on interpreting the various forms of life writing.

Wolfreys , Julian. Critical keywords in literary and cultural theory. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. [ PN44.5.W64 2004 ]
Cuddon , J.A. ; Preston, C.E.. (rev.) A dictionary of literary terms and literary theory . Malden, Mass. : Blackwell, 1998. [ REF PN41 .C83 1998 ]
Turco , Lewis. The book of literary terms : the genres of fiction, drama, nonfiction, literary criticism, and scholarship. Hanover, NH : University Press of New England, c1999. [ PN44.5.T87 1999 ]
Spengemann , William C. The forms of autobiography : episodes in the history of a literary genre. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1980. [ CT25.S63 1980 ]
Memories are made of this - and that
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autobiography

Definition of autobiography

Examples of autobiography in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autobiography.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

auto- + biography , perhaps after German Autobiographie

1797, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing autobiography

semi - autobiography

Dictionary Entries Near autobiography

autobiographist

Cite this Entry

“Autobiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autobiography. Accessed 23 Aug. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of autobiography, more from merriam-webster on autobiography.

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for autobiography

Nglish: Translation of autobiography for Spanish Speakers

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about autobiography

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Autobiography/Biography/Memoirs

What is an autobiography, what is a biography, what is a memoir.

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The Oxford English Dictionary defines autobiography as "An account of a person's life given by himself or herself, especially one published in book form. Also: the process of writing such an account; these considered as a literary genre".

An autobiographical essay is a short account of some aspect of the writer's life. It may include a brief description of the writer's experiences,hobbies,interests and some memorable events. Another term for an autobiographical essay is narrative essay. Since the autobiographical form is a first hand account of a person's life presented in its original form without interpretation or commentary from other writers, it is considered a primary source.

For additional information on this literary genre refer to Purdue's Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/04/

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a biography is defined as

"The process of recording the events and circumstances of another person's life, esp. for publication (latterly in any of various written, recorded, or visual media); the documenting of individual life histories (and, later, other forms of thematic historical narrative), considered as a genre of writing or social history".

Since a biography is an account of a person's life written by someone else, it is considered to be a secondary source.

The OED defines memoir as "autobiographical observations; reminiscences".

Autobiographies and memoirs are similar in that they both are written in the first person and both are personal and talk about the author's life. The difference is while autobiographies detail in chronological sequence the author's life from birth to death, memoirs are concerened with emotional truths and focus on random aspects of the author's life such as feelings or attitudes that stand out because they have had such an impact on the person's life. The line between autobiographies and memoirs is fuzzy that they are often used interchangeably.

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Last Updated: Aug 13, 2024 4:33 PM
URL: https://libguides.southernct.edu/biography

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Definition of autobiography – Learner’s Dictionary

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autobiographical

(Definition of autobiography from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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Definition of biography noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Boswell’s biography of Johnson
a biography by Antonia Fraser
The book gives potted biographies of all the major painters.
blockbuster
unauthorized
biography by
biography of

Questions about grammar and vocabulary?

Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English.

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The Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography

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artificial intelligence noun

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What does the noun artificial intelligence mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun artificial intelligence . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun artificial intelligence ?

How is the noun artificial intelligence pronounced?

British english, u.s. english, where does the noun artificial intelligence come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun artificial intelligence is in the 1950s.

OED's earliest evidence for artificial intelligence is from 1955, in a text by J. McCarthy et al.

artificial intelligence is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: artificial adj. , intelligence n.

Nearby entries

artificial evolution, n. 1901–
artificial eye, n. 1635–
artificial gene, n. 1965–
artificial general intelligence, n. 1989–
artificial globe, n. 1625–
artificial grass, n. 1733–
artificial gravity, n. 1927–
artificial horizon, n. 1595–
artificial hour, n. 1582–
artificial insemination, n. 1897–
artificial intelligence, n. 1955–
artificial island, n. 1775–
artificialism, n. 1835–
artificiality, n. c1535–
artificialize, v. 1801–
artificialized, adj. 1684–
artificial kidney, n. 1913–
artificial language, n. 1705–
artificial life, n. 1613–
artificial line, n. 1667–
artificial lung, n. 1844–

Meaning & use

A proposal for the Dartmouth summer research project on artificial intelligence .

Though computers have been programmed to do certain things..it would be disastrous to extrapolate from these primitive exhibitions of artificial intelligence to something like translation.

Research on pattern recognition is carried out in various areas, for instance, in connection with ‘learning machines’ and ‘ artificial intelligence ’.

The..almost clichéd applications being knowledge-based systems and artificial intelligence programs.

A pioneer in the subdiscipline of artificial intelligence known as natural language processing.

Magna has enlisted the team from the TV programme Robot Wars to make ‘flyborgs’—radio-controlled blimps with artificial intelligence .

Ive never seen a more first world problem than an artificial intelligence refusing to write a poem.

artificial intelligence 1955– The capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned with this. In later use also…
AI 1963– Artificial intelligence; the capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned…
strong AI 1980– (Originally Philosophy ) artificial intelligence in which a machine can think and has a mind (as opposed to only acting as if it does); (in later use)…
machine learning 1953– The capacity of computers to learn and adapt without following explicit instructions, by using algorithms and statistical models to analyse and…
ELINT 1954– The gathering of information for military, security, or other purposes by means of electronic sensing devices; information gathered in this way; = el …
machine intelligence 1966– = artificial intelligence , n.
deep learning 1986– A type of machine learning considered to be in some way more dynamic or complete than others; esp. machine learning based on artificial neural…

Pronunciation

ð th ee
ɬ rhingy ll

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛtl/ but <petally> /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

a trap, bath
ɑː start, palm, bath
ɔː thought, force
ᵻ (/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ (/ʊ/-/ə/)

Other symbols

The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here .

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in <bitter>

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but <petally> /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

i fleece, happ y
æ trap, bath
ɑ lot, palm, cloth, thought
ɔ cloth, thought
ɔr north, force
ə strut, comm a
ər nurse, lett er
ɛ(ə)r square
æ̃ sal on

Simple Text Respell

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

arr carry (British only)
a(ng) gratin
o lot (British only)
orr sorry (British only)
o(ng) salon

artificial intelligence typically occurs about once per million words in modern written English.

artificial intelligence is in frequency band 5, which contains words occurring between 1 and 10 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency of artificial intelligence, n. , 1950–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole , n.¹, mole , n.², mole , n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade	Frequency per million words
1950	0.072
1960	0.16
1970	0.73
1980	1.2
1990	1.5
2000	1.3
2010	1.2

Compounds & derived words

AI , n.² 1963– Artificial intelligence; the capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned with…

Entry history for artificial intelligence, n.

Originally published as part of the entry for artificial, adj. & n.

artificial intelligence, n. was revised in December 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into artificial intelligence, n. in December 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

A Supplement to the OED, Volume I (1972)

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Autobiography in English Literature
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Autobiography in english literature
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Educational Autobiography
Meaning of Autobiography

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autobiography, n. meanings, etymology and more
A recollection or memory of a past fact or experience recounted to others; a regular course of study or training, as at a school or university. (The recognized term in the Scottish Universities.) ) biographical details, esp. summarizing a person's educational and employment history, academic career, etc.; (with.
autobiography noun
Definition of autobiography noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. ... Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English. See autobiography in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary See ...
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
AUTOBIOGRAPHY definition: 1. a book about a person's life, written by that person: 2. the area of literature relating to…. Learn more.
biography, n. meanings, etymology and more
The earliest known use of the noun biography is in the mid 1600s. OED's earliest evidence for biography is from 1661, in the writing of John Fell, bishop of Oxford. biography is a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin biographia. See etymology.
Autobiography
Search for: 'autobiography' in Oxford Reference ». In its modern form, may be taken as writing that purposefully and self‐consciously provides an account of the author's life and incorporates feeling and introspection as well as empirical detail. In this sense, autobiographies are infrequent in English much before 1800.
Autobiography
autobiography, the biography of oneself narrated by oneself. Autobiographical works can take many forms, from the intimate writings made during life that were not necessarily intended for publication (including letters, diaries, journals, memoirs, and reminiscences) to a formal book-length autobiography. Formal autobiographies offer a special ...
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
AUTOBIOGRAPHY definition: a book written by someone about their own life. Learn more.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY Definition & Meaning
Autobiography definition: a history of a person's life written or told by that person.. See examples of AUTOBIOGRAPHY used in a sentence.
Autobiography
autobiography: 1 n a biography of yourself Types: memoir an account of the author's personal experiences Type of: biography , life , life history , life story an account of the series of events making up a person's life
What's the difference between an autobiography, biography or a memoir
Note: The below definitions are from the Oxford English Dictionary [electronic resource.] Autobiography, n. - Typically in book form, an autobiography is an account of a person's life told by the himself or herself. An autobiography tends to be a more general history, while a memoir focuses on a specific piece of the author's life.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY definition
AUTOBIOGRAPHY meaning: 1. a book about a person's life, written by that person: 2. the area of literature relating to…. Learn more.
Autobiography Definition & Meaning
autobiography: [noun] the biography of a person narrated by himself or herself.
biography noun
Definition of biography noun in Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
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According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a biography is defined as "The process of recording the events and circumstances of another person's life, esp. for publication (latterly in any of various written, recorded, or visual media); the documenting of individual life histories (and, later, other forms of thematic historical narrative), considered as a genre of writing or social history".
Oxford English Dictionary
The historical English dictionary. An unsurpassed guide for researchers in any discipline to the meaning, history, and usage of over 500,000 words and phrases across the English-speaking world. ... Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective ...
autobiography noun
Definition of autobiography noun in Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. ... Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner ...
biography noun
Definition of biography noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. ... Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English. See biography in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary See biography in ...
AUTOBIOGRAPHY definition and meaning
An account of a person's life written or otherwise recorded by that person.... Click for English pronunciations, examples sentences, video.
autobiographical adjective
autobiographical, adj. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary
autobiographical adjective
Definition of autobiographical adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. ... Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Try it for free as part of the Oxford ...
autobiography definition
autobiography meaning: a book written by someone about their own life. Learn more.
biography noun
Definition of biography noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. ... Definition of biography noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's ... Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations ...
artificial intelligence noun
Artificial intelligence; the capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned…. ) artificial intelligence in which a machine can think and has a mind (as opposed to only acting as if it does); (in later use)…. The capacity of computers to learn and adapt without following ...

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Q. What's the difference between an autobiography, biography or a memoir?

Answered By: Jeffrey Orrico Last Updated: Jul 18, 2023 Views: 47585

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A Supplement to the OED, Volume I (1972)

OED Second Edition (1989)

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