autobiography
UK/ɔːtəbaɪ'ɒgrəfɪ/US/.ɒ:tәubai'ɒgrәfi/
TOEFLGREC1
Definitions
n.
An account of a person's life written by that person.
自传，由本人撰写的生平记录。
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedauto-self
+
bio-life, living things
+
-ywrite, writing, record
=autobiography
auto- (self) + bio (life) + graph (write) + -y = 'self-life-writing.' It's a biography with one extra layer: the subject and the author are the same person. That single auto- is the whole difference from biography.
Root graph still carries 34 more wordsCommon Collocations
- 1.write an autobiography写自传
- 2.published autobiography出版的自传
- 3.ghostwritten autobiography代笔自传
Example Sentences
- 1.
In her autobiography she finally explained why she quit.
- 2.
The athlete's autobiography topped the charts for weeks.
- 3.
He is writing his autobiography at the age of ninety.
Easily Confused
autobiography vs biography vs memoir: an autobiography is written by the subject and usually covers the whole life; a biography is written by someone else; a memoir is also self-written but focuses on particular periods or themes rather than the full life story.