An account of a person’s life written by that person. It covers early life, experiences, and personal reflections, typically organized chronologically and often emphasizing formative events. The term combines the Greek roots autobi-, meaning self, and -ography, meaning writing or description, to denote self-authored life writing.
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- Common Phonetic Challenge 1: Stress placement across a multi-syllable word. You might say auto-BI-o-graphy instead of au-to-bi-OG-ra-phy. Correction: practice the four-syllable beat: /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/ by tapping 4 beats per syllable with emphasis on the 4th. - Common Phonetic Challenge 2: The bio- and -graph- boundaries. People fuse /baɪ/ with /ɡr/ producing /baɪɡr/; separate the vowels and insert a light pause if needed: /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/. Correction: isolate syllables in a slow model, then blend. - Common Phonetic Challenge 3: Final -phy /fi/ tends to be shortened in fast speech. Ensure the final syllable retains /fi/ with a crisp release: /fi/ rather than /fɪ/. Practice with minimal pairs like “ autobiography” vs “autobiographies” to fix rhythm. - Quick tips: practice with finger tapping, record yourself, compare with a native speaker, and adjust the loudness of the stressed -og- syllable.
- US: Rhotic, with a clear /ɹ/; middle vowels may be slightly more relaxed; peach the “bio” as /baɪ/. /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/; ensure the -ɡr- cluster is crisp. - UK: Typically non-rhotic; final /r/ not pronounced; /ɔː/ as a long vowel; /baɪ/ similar; stress remains on -og-. /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/. - AU: Non-rhotic; vowels broader; place emphasis on the mid- syllable; /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/. IPA references: US /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/, UK /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/, AU /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/. - Vowel details: bio is /baɪ/ (diphthong), auto is /ˈɔː.tə/ with a long /ɔː/ in some dialects; final -graph- has /ɡrə/ with a schwa preceding the final /fi/.
"She published her autobiography after a long career in teaching."
"The author’s autobiography reveals how her childhood shaped her later discoveries."
"A famous actor released an autobiography that detailed both triumphs and struggles."
"Researchers compared several autobiographies to trace changes in social norms over time."
Autobiography comes from the Greek prefixes auto- meaning ‘self’ and biographia meaning ‘life writing’ (from bios ‘life’ + graphia ‘writing’). The combining form auto- signals self, while biographia denotes the act of writing about one’s life. The earliest uses appear in the Renaissance when scholars discussed “autobiographies” of saints and notable figures, but the term gained modern traction in the 18th and 19th centuries with the rise of the self-revealing memoir. The word evolved from general descriptions of life-writing to a specific literary genre describing a person’s life from their own perspective, often as an introspective, confessional narrative. Over time, the spelling and hyphenation stabilized, and the word became standard in literary criticism and publishing. The root components remained constant, with auto- as a prefix denoting self, biograph- referencing life, and -y as a noun-forming suffix. First known use in English records traces to the 18th century, aligning with broader Enlightenment emphasis on individual experience and self-examination in literature.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "autobiography" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "autobiography" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "autobiography"
-phy sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
🎵 Rhyme tip: Practicing with rhyming words helps you master similar sound patterns and improves your overall pronunciation accuracy.
Pronounce as /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/ in US/UK standard; stress on the fourth syllable from the start: au-to-bi-OG-ra-phy. Begin with the “aw” sound in “saw” for the first syllable, then a short /tə/, then /baɪ/ (like “buy”), followed by /ˈɒɡ/ (rhymes with “dog” in non-rhotic varieties) and finish with /rə.fi/. Keep the /ɡ/ soft but audible, and ensure the /ɪ/ in -graph- is light. If you’re in US English, the /ɒ/ often reduces to /ɑ/ in many dialects; aim for a clear short “a” in -og-.”
Two frequent errors: (1) Misplacing stress, especially confusing the -og- with the -bio- portion. Ensure primary stress is on the -og- syllable: au-to-bi-OG-ra-phy. (2) Slurring the -graph- segment or pronouncing /ˈɡrə/ as /ɡroʊ/; keep /ˈɡræ/ with a short, crisp /ɡrə/ ending the -graph- part. Correct by isolating syllables and modeling: /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/.
In US English, you’ll hear a rhotic /ɹ/ and sometimes a slightly reduced vowel in the first syllable: /ˌɑː.tə.bɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/. In UK English, non-rhoticity may leave the final /r/ unreleased and the /ɑː/ more open: /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/. Australian tends toward non-rhotic with a broader /ɒ/ and a clear /ɪ/ in -bio-: /ˌɔː.tə.baɪˈɒɡ.rə.fi/. Core is the same segmental lineup, but vowel quality and rhoticity shift slightly by region.
It blends multiple morphemes and a stressed syllable in the mid- to late part of the word. The sequence bio- og- ra- has a tricky hiatal rhythm, and the -graph- segment carries a cluster (/ɡr/). Practically, you’re coordinating a long word with three vowel sounds in close proximity and a stress swing. Focus on syllable-timed delivery, practicing the /baɪˈɒɡ/ part, then smoothly glide into /rə.fi/ to avoid breaking the word across phrase boundaries.
There are no silent letters in the standard pronunciation; every letter in autobiograpHY- is spoken, though some dialects may reduce vowels in rapid speech. The key is keeping the vowel sounds distinct in bio- (bi-), og- (og), and -graph- (/ɡrə/). Ensure the final -phy is pronounced as /fi/ rather than silent or reduced. The integrity of the syllable chain matters for intelligibility.
🗣️ Voice search tip: These questions are optimized for voice search. Try asking your voice assistant any of these questions about "autobiography"!
- Shadowing: listen to native sources delivering the word in context, then repeat with exact timing. Start slow, then match pace and intonation. - Minimal pairs: focus on vowel differences and consonant clusters: /baɪ/ vs /beɪ/; /ɡrə/ vs /ɡreɪ/ to fix cluster clarity. - Rhythm practice: count 4–5 syllables in the word and align to a metronome: 60 BPM for slow, 100 BPM for normal, 120 BPM for fast. - Stress repair: practice with framing sentences, then isolate the word and re-sculpt the prosody: “Her autobiography reveals…” - Recording: Use a quiet space; compare to a native version; adjust vowel lengths based on spectral features. - Context practice: create two context sentences for everyday use and two for academic writing. - Note: This word benefits from focused practice on /ˈɒɡ/ cluster and the final /fi/.
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