Where does the word 'biography' originate?
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ANSWERS: 2
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"Biography (from the Greek words bios meaning "life", and graphein meaning "write")" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biography
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According to the Online Etymological Dictionary this form was first used in 1683, though the Greek equivalent "biographia" is from about 1200 years earlier. The Greek noun for "record" (graphia) is a backformation from the verb meaning "to write" (graphein). This was pasted on to the word "bio" (life) which is thought to have come from a Proto-IndoEuropean verb "gweien," meaning "to live." In fact this is thought to be the some source from which comes the Latin version of "life" - vita. The two together clearly combine to make the meaning of "life record."
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