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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 8 Jun. 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

Britannica English: Translation of autobiography for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about autobiography

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Autobiography

Definition of autobiography, difference between autobiography and memoir, six types of autobiography, importance of autobiography, examples of autobiography in literature, example #1:  the box: tales from the darkroom by gunter grass, example #2:  the story of my life by helen keller, example #3:  self portraits: fictions by frederic tuten, example #4:  my prizes by thomas bernhard, example #5:  the autobiography of benjamin franklin by benjamin franklin, synonyms of autobiography, related posts:, post navigation.

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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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autobiography noun

• Hide all quotations

Earlier version

• autobiography in OED Second Edition (1989)

What does the noun autobiography mean?

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

How common is the noun autobiography ?

How is the noun autobiography pronounced?

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

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun autobiography is in the late 1700s.

OED's earliest evidence for autobiography is from 1797, in the writing of William Taylor, reviewer and translator.

autobiography is formed within English, by compounding; perhaps modelled on a German lexical item.

Etymons: auto- comb. form 1 , biography n.

Nearby entries

• autobasidium, n. 1895–
• autobio, n. 1856–
• autobiog, n. 1829–
• autobiographal, adj. 1845–
• autobiographer, n. 1807–
• autobiographic, adj. 1818–
• autobiographical, adj. 1807–
• autobiographically, adv. 1822–
• autobiographical novel, n. 1832–
• autobiographist, n. 1820–
• autobiography, n. 1797–
• autobiopic, n. 1977–
• auto body, n. 1904–
• auto-boot, n. 1981–
• auto-boot, v. 1984–
• auto-booting, adj. 1983–
• autobox, n. 1977–
• autobracketing, n. 1985–
• auto-burglar, n. 1884
• autocade, n. 1924–
• auto camp, n. 1904–

Meaning & use

The next dissertation concerns Diaries, and Self-biography . We are doubtful whether the latter word be legitimate: it is not very usual in English to employ hybrid words partly Saxon and partly Greek: yet autobiography would have seemed pedantic.

This very amusing and unique specimen of autobiography .

Geology (as Sir C. Lyell has so happily expressed it) is ‘the autobiography of the earth’.

We live in an age when men treat art as if it were meant to be a form of autobiography .

The autobiography in your letter..has pleased me a good deal.

Dent's will be pleased to hear that my Welsh book, a sort of provincial autobiography , is coming on well.

An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life and it is usually full of all sorts of boring details.

The Cockney beauty's autobiography ..has become a surprise hit, debuting at number four in the best-seller lists.

• story 1533– With possessive adjective or genitive. A person's account of the events of his or her life or a part of it. Cf. life story , n. , and also sense 8.
• autography 1661– = autobiography , n. rare .
• memoirs 1676– In plural . Autobiographical observations; reminiscences. Frequently modified by a possessive.
• idiography a1734 Autobiography; writing about oneself. Obsolete . rare .
• self-biography 1796– An account of the life of an individual written by himself or herself; an autobiography. Also: the genre comprising such work.
• autobiography 1797– An account of a person's life given by himself or herself, esp. one published in book form. Also: the process of writing such an account; these…
• reminiscence 1797– Chiefly in plural . A recollection or memory of a past fact or experience recounted to others; spec. (usually in plural ) a person's collective…
• autobiog 1829– = autobiography , n.
• autobio 1856– = autobiography , n.
• auto 1881– = autobiography , n.
• curriculum vitae 1902– A course; spec. a regular course of study or training, as at a school or university. (The recognized term in the Scottish Universities.) curriculum …
• biodata 1947– ( plural ) biographical details, esp. summarizing a person's educational and employment history, academic career, etc.; (with singular agreement) =…
• vita 1949– A biography, the history of a life; spec. = curriculum vitae n. at curriculum , n.
• c.v. 1971– = curriculum vitae n. at curriculum , n.

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

autobiography typically occurs about six times per million words in modern written English.

autobiography 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 autobiography, n. , 1790–2010

* 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.

Frequency of autobiography, n. , 2017–2023

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

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 corpus.

Compounds & derived words

• autobiog , n. 1829– = autobiography, n.
• autobiographal , adj. 1845– = autobiographical, adj.
• autobio , n. 1856– = autobiography, n.
• auto , n.³ 1881– = autobiography, n.

Entry history for autobiography, n.

autobiography, n. was revised in June 2011.

autobiography, n. was last modified in July 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 autobiography, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1885)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View autobiography in OED Second Edition

Please submit your feedback for autobiography, n.

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Citation details

Factsheet for autobiography, n., browse entry.

• Literary Terms
• Autobiography
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write Autobiography

I. What is Autobiography?

An autobiography is a self-written life story.

It is different from a  biography , which is the life story of a person written by someone else. Some people may have their life story written by another person because they don’t believe they can write well, but they are still considered an author because they are providing the information. Reading autobiographies may be more interesting than biographies because you are reading the thoughts of the person instead of someone else’s interpretation.

II. Examples of Autobiography

One of the United States’ forefathers wrote prolifically (that means a lot!) about news, life, and common sense. His readings, quotes, and advice are still used today, and his face is on the $100 bill. Benjamin Franklin’s good advice is still used through his sayings, such as “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” He’s also the one who penned the saying that’s seen all over many schools: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” His autobiography is full of his adventures , philosophy about life, and his wisdom. His autobiography shows us how much he valued education through his anecdotes (stories) of his constant attempts to learn and improve himself. He also covers his many ideas on his inventions and his thoughts as he worked with others in helping the United States become free from England.

III. Types of Autobiography

There are many types of autobiographies. Authors must decide what purpose they have for writing about their lives, and then they can choose the format that would best tell their story. Most of these types all share common goals: helping themselves face an issue by writing it down, helping others overcome similar events, or simply telling their story.

a. Full autobiography (traditional):

This would be the complete life story, starting from birth through childhood, young adulthood, and up to the present time at which the book is being written. Authors might choose this if their whole lives were very different from others and could be considered interesting.

There are many types of memoirs – place, time, philosophic (their theory on life), occupational, etc. A memoir is a snapshot of a person’s life. It focuses on one specific part that stands out as a learning experience or worth sharing.

c. Psychological illness

People who have suffered mental illness of any kind find it therapeutic to write down their thoughts. Therapists are specialists who listen to people’s problems and help them feel better, but many people find writing down their story is also helpful.

d. Confession

Just as people share a psychological illness, people who have done something very wrong may find it helps to write down and share their story. Sharing the story may make one feel he or she is making amends (making things right), or perhaps hopes that others will learn and avoid the same mistake.

e. Spiritual

Spiritual and religious experiences are very personal . However, many people feel that it’s their duty and honor to share these stories. They may hope to pull others into their beliefs or simply improve others’ lives.

f. Overcoming adversity

Unfortunately, many people do not have happy, shining lives. Terrible events such as robberies, assaults, kidnappings, murders, horrific accidents, and life-threatening illnesses are common in some lives. Sharing the story can inspire others while also helping the person express deep emotions to heal.

IV. The Importance of Autobiography

Autobiographies are an important part of history. Being able to read the person’s own ideas and life stories is getting the first-person story versus the third-person (he-said/she-said) version. In journalism, reporters go to the source to get an accurate account of an event. The same is true when it comes to life stories. Reading the story from a second or third source will not be as reliable. The writer may be incorrectly explaining and describing the person’s life events.

Autobiographies are also important because they allow other people in similar circumstances realize that they are not alone. They can be inspiring for those who are facing problems in their lives. For the author, writing the autobiography allows them to heal as they express their feelings and opinions. Autobiographies are also an important part of history.

V. Examples of Autobiography in Literature

A popular autobiography that has lasted almost 100 years is that of Helen Keller. Her life story has been made into numerous movies and plays. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, has also had her life story written and televised multiple times. Students today still read and learn about this young girl who went blind and deaf at 19 months of age, causing her to also lose her ability to learn to speak. Sullivan’s entrance into Helen’s life when the girl was seven was the turning point. She learned braille and soon became an activist for helping blind and deaf people across the nation. She died in 1968, but her autobiography is still helping others.

Even in the days before my teacher came, I used to feel along the square stiff boxwood hedges, and, guided by the sense of smell, would find the first violets and lilies. There, too, after a fit of temper, I went to find comfort and to hide my hot face in the cool leaves and grass. What joy it was to lose myself in that garden of flowers, to wander happily from spot to spot, until, coming suddenly upon a beautiful vine, I recognized it by its leaves and blossoms, and knew it was the vine which covered the tumble-down summer-house at the farther end of the garden! (Keller).

An autobiography that many middle and high school students read every year is “Night” by Elie Wiesel. His story is also a memoir, covering his teen years as he and his family went from the comfort of their own home to being forced into a Jewish ghetto with other families, before ending up in a Nazi prison camp. His book is not that long, but the details and description he uses brings to life the horrors of Hitler’s reign of terror in Germany during World War II. Students also read “The Diary of Anne Frank,” another type of autobiography that shows a young Jewish girl’s daily life while hiding from the Nazis to her eventual capture and death in a German camp. Both books are meant to remind us to not be indifferent to the world’s suffering and to not allow hate to take over.

“The people were saying, “The Red Army is advancing with giant strides…Hitler will not be able to harm us, even if he wants to…” Yes, we even doubted his resolve to exterminate us. Annihilate an entire people? Wipe out a population dispersed throughout so many nations? So many millions of people! By what means? In the middle of the twentieth century! And thus my elders concerned themselves with all manner of things—strategy, diplomacy, politics, and Zionism—but not with their own fate. Even Moishe the Beadle had fallen silent. He was weary of talking. He would drift through synagogue or through the streets, hunched over, eyes cast down, avoiding people’s gaze. In those days it was still possible to buy emigration certificates to Palestine. I had asked my father to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and to leave” (Wiesel 8).  

VI. Examples of Autobiography in Pop Culture

One example of an autobiography that was a hit in the movie theaters is “American Sniper,” the story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. According to an article in the Dallas, Texas, magazine D, Kyle donated all the proceeds from the film to veterans and their families. He had a story to tell, and he used it to help others. His story is a memoir, focusing on a specific time period of his life when he was overseas in the military.

An autobiography by a young Olympian is “Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith” by Gabrielle (Gabby) Douglas. She had a writer, Michelle Burford, help her in writing her autobiography. This is common for those who have a story to tell but may not have the words to express it well. Gabby was the darling of the 2012 Olympics, winning gold medals for the U.S. in gymnastics along with being the All-Around Gold Medal winner, the first African-American to do so. Many young athletes see her as an inspiration. Her story also became a television movie, “The Gabby Douglas Story.”

VII. Related Terms

The life story of one person written by another. The purpose may to be highlight an event or person in a way to help the public learn a lesson, feel inspired, or to realize that they are not alone in their circumstance. Biographies are also a way to share history. Historic and famous people may have their biographies written by many authors who research their lives years after they have died.

VIII. Conclusion

Autobiographies are a way for people to share stories that may educate, inform, persuade, or inspire others. Many people find writing their stories to be therapeutic, healing them beyond what any counseling might do or as a part of the counseling. Autobiographies are also a way to keep history alive by allowing people in the present learn about those who lived in the past. In the future, people can learn a lot about our present culture by reading autobiographies by people of today.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

How to Define Autobiography

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

An autobiography is an account of a person's life written or otherwise recorded by that person. Adjective: autobiographical .

Many scholars regard the Confessions (c. 398) by Augustine of Hippo (354–430) as the first autobiography.

The term fictional autobiography (or pseudoautobiography ) refers to novels that employ first-person narrators who recount the events of their lives as if they actually happened. Well-known examples include David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens and Salinger's  The Catcher in the Rye (1951).

Some critics believe that all autobiographies are in some ways fictional. Patricia Meyer Spacks has observed that "people do make themselves up. . . . To read an autobiography is to encounter a self as an imaginative being" ( The Female Imagination , 1975).

For the distinction between a memoir and an autobiographical composition, see memoir  as well as the examples and observations below. 

From the Greek, "self" + "life" + "write"

Examples of Autobiographical Prose

• Imitating the Style of the Spectator , by Benjamin Franklin
• Langston Hughes on Harlem
• On the Street, by Emma Goldman
• Ritual in Maya Angelou's Caged Bird
• The Turbid Ebb and Flow of Misery, by Margaret Sanger
• Two Ways of Seeing a River, by Mark Twain

Examples and Observations of Autobiographical Compositions

• "An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last installment missing." (Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant , 1968)
• "Putting a life into words rescues it from confusion even when the words declare the omnipresence of confusion, since the art of declaring implies dominance." (Patricia Meyer Spacks, Imagining a Self: Autobiography and Novel in Eighteenth-Century England . Harvard University Press, 1976)
• The Opening Lines of Zora Neale Hurston's Autobiography - "Like the dead-seeming, cold rocks, I have memories within that came out of the material that went to make me. Time and place have had their say. "So you will have to know something about the time and place where I came from, in order that you may interpret the incidents and directions of my life. "I was born in a Negro town. I do not mean by that the black back-side of an average town. Eatonville, Florida, is, and was at the time of my birth, a pure Negro town--charter, mayor, council, town marshal and all. It was not the first Negro community in America, but it was the first to be incorporated, the first attempt at organized self-government on the part of Negroes in America. "Eatonville is what you might call hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick. The town was not in the original plan. It is a by-product of something else. . . ." (Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road . J.B. Lippincott, 1942) - "There is a saying in the Black community that advises: 'If a person asks you where you're going, you tell him where you've been. That way you neither lie nor reveal your secrets.' Hurston had called herself the 'Queen of the Niggerati.' She also said, 'I like myself when I'm laughing.' Dust Tracks on a Road is written with royal humor and an imperious creativity. But then all creativity is imperious, and Zora Neale Hurston was certainly creative." (Maya Angelou, Foreword to Dust Tracks on a Road , rpt. HarperCollins, 1996)
• Autobiography and Truth "All autobiographies are lies. I do not mean unconscious, unintentional lies; I mean deliberate lies. No man is bad enough to tell the truth about himself during his lifetime, involving, as it must, the truth about his family and friends and colleagues. And no man is good enough to tell the truth in a document which he suppresses until there is nobody left alive to contradict him." (George Bernard Shaw, Sixteen Self Sketches , 1898)" " Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people." (attributed to Thomas Carlyle, Philip Guedalla, and others)
• Autobiography and Memoir - "An autobiography is the story of a life : the name implies that the writer will somehow attempt to capture all the essential elements of that life. A writer's autobiography, for example, is not expected to deal merely with the author's growth and career as a writer but also with the facts and emotions connected to family life, education, relationships, sexuality, travels, and inner struggles of all kinds. An autobiography is sometimes limited by dates (as in Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography to 1949 by Doris Lessing), but not obviously by theme. "Memoir, on the other hand, is a story from a life . It makes no pretense of replicating a whole life." (Judith Barrington, Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art . Eighth Mountain Press, 2002) - "Unlike autobiography , which moves in a dutiful line from birth to fame, memoir narrows the lens, focusing on a time in the writer's life that was unusually vivid, such as childhood or adolescence, or that was framed by war or travel or public service or some other special circumstance." (William Zinsser, "Introduction," Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir . Mariner Books, 1998)
• An "Epidemical Rage for Auto-Biography" "[I]f the populace of writers become thus querulous after fame (to which they have no pretensions) we shall expect to see an epidemical rage for auto-biography break out, more wide in its influence and more pernicious in its tendency than the strange madness of the Abderites, so accurately described by Lucian. London, like Abdera, will be peopled solely by 'men of genius'; and as the frosty season, the grand specific for such evils, is over, we tremble for the consequences. Symptoms of this dreadful malady (though somewhat less violent) have appeared amongst us before . . .." (Isaac D'Israeli, "Review of "The Memoirs of Percival Stockdale," 1809)|
• The Lighter Side of Autobiography - "The Confessions of St. Augustine are the first autobiography , and they have this to distinguish them from all other autobiographies, that they are addressed directly to God." (Arthur Symons, Figures of Several Centuries , 1916) - "I write fiction and I'm told it's autobiography , I write autobiography and I'm told it's fiction, so since I'm so dim and they're so smart, let them decide what it is or isn't." (Philip Roth, Deception , 1990) - "I'm writing an unauthorized autobiography ." (Steven Wright)

Pronunciation: o-toe-bi-OG-ra-fee

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au·to·bi·og·ra·phy

Au•to•bi•og•ra•phy.

• Adams Henry Brooks
• autobiographic
• autobiographical
• Cellini Benvenuto
• confrontation
• confrontational
• confrontationist
• Criticism, Dramatic and Literary
• auto accessory
• auto company
• auto factory
• auto limitation
• auto manufacturer
• auto mechanic
• auto mechanics
• auto racing
• autoallogamy
• autoantibody
• autoantigen
• autobiographer
• Autobiographist
• Autocarpous
• autocatalyse
• autocatalysis
• autocatalytic
• autocatalytic plating
• autocephalous
• autochanger
• auto-changer
• Autochronograph
• autochthonal
• autochthonic
• autochthonism
• autochthonous
• autochthony
• Autoclastic
• autocode format
• Autocoherer
• autobiographers
• autobiographic memory
• Autobiographical Memory Test
• Autobiographical writing
• autobiographically
• autobiographicly
• autobiographies
• Autobiography of a Narcissist
• Autobiography of a Yogi
• Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, The
• Autobody Craftsmans Association
• Autobody repair technician
• autobogotiphobia
• Autobooting
• Autobranchens Handels- og Industriforening i Danmark
• autobrecciation
• Autobus (cycling)
• Autobuses del Norte
• Autobusni Kolodvor Zagreb
• Autobusni Promet
• Autobusy I Komunikacja Miejska
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| | | | | | | My Wordlists Legacy activities       Wordsmyth     Standard   Lookup History autobiographies the events of a person's life written or told by that person. Subscriber feature autobiographer (n.) See   Subscribe for ad-free Wordsmyth and more The Differences Between British English vs. American English Vocabulary And Slang Pronunciation English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and you’ll find its more than 1 billion speakers just about everywhere. (It’s fun to note that scientists have even taken the English language to Antarctica!) But there are two particular groups of English speakers we’ll focus on in this article—and they are the ones who live on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, or what the Brits like to call “the pond.” If you’ve enjoyed some British football , puzzled over a British  biscuit , or just watched a little “Peppa Pig” with your kids recently, we probably won’t surprise you when we say there are some key and noteworthy differences in how English functions in the United States versus the United Kingdom. Let’s take a quick look at some fun and noteworthy examples of how English vocabulary, slang, spelling and pronunciation can vary depending on your location. British vs. American words: Vocabulary and slang In general, most words mean the same thing in British and American English. For example, the words apple and chair refer to the same objects in both versions of English. For the most part, speakers of American English and British English won’t have much trouble at all understanding one another when it comes to vocabulary. However, there are many examples of the same thing being referred to by different words depending on if you are using American or British English. For a well-known example, British English uses the word football to refer to the sport that Americans know as soccer . For the sport that Americans know as football , Brits use the term … American football . This is far from the only example, though. Here are just a few more examples of two different words being used to refer to the same thing: French fries /fries (American) vs. chips (British) cotton candy (American) vs. candyfloss (British) apartment (American) vs. flat (British) garbage (American) vs. rubbish (British) cookie (American) vs. biscuit (British) green thumb (American) vs. green fingers (British) parking lot (American) vs. car park (British) pants (American) vs. trousers (British) windshield (American) vs. windscreen (British) We can find similar examples when we look at slang words. Sometimes, different slang words are used in American and British English to refer to the same things. A wad of mucus: booger (American) vs. bogey (British) A man: dude (American) vs. bloke (British) Very good: awesome (American) vs. ace (British) To chat: shoot the breeze (American) vs. chinwag (British) An infantry soldier: grunt (American) vs. squaddie (British) A toilet: john (American) vs. loo (British) An anonymous man: John Doe (American) vs. John Smith (British) To waste time: lollygag (American) vs. faff about (British) Finally, both American and British English have words that are used exclusively. For example, American English has words like bayou and cleats for which there is no British equivalent. On the other side, British English uses terms like bunce , niff , and jiggery pokery that don’t really have American equivalents. Read about other British slang that may have flummoxed you. British vs. American spelling Generally speaking, most English words are spelled the same in American and British English. However, there are some notable spelling patterns that are preferred depending on which form of English is used. Listed below are just some examples of spelling differences you may encounter: -our (British) vs. -or (American)  Examples: colour vs. color, armour vs. armor, flavour vs. flavor -ise or -ize (British) vs. only -ize (American) Examples: apologise vs. apologize, fantasise vs. fantasize, idolise vs. idolize -yse (British) vs. – yze (American) Examples: analyse vs. analyze, paralyse vs. paralyze Doubling the L in a verb conjugation (British) vs. keeping the single L (American) Examples: travelled vs. traveled, labelling vs. labeling AE (British) vs. E (American) Examples: leukaemia vs. leukemia, paediatrics vs. pediatrics -ence (British) vs. -ense (American) Examples:  defence vs. defense only -ogue (British) vs. -og or -ogue (American) Examples: catalogue vs. catalog, dialogue vs. dialog -re (British) vs. -er (American) Examples: metre vs. meter, lustre vs. luster In addition to these common patterns, some specific words are spelled differently in American and British English. Some examples include airplane (the first in each pair is the common American term) and aeroplane , gray and grey , tire and tyre , and mold and mould . Go Behind The Words! By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy policies. Name This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. British vs. American pronunciation Before we dive into pronunciation differences, we need to address the elephant in the room. Yes, we know both the United States and the United Kingdom have many, many different accents and dialects that are spoken in their respective country. In particular, most (but not all) American accents are rhotic whereas most (but not all) British accents are nonrhotic . This means that most Americans will pronounce the R in certain syllables while most Brits will not, as in the word number (pronounced as “numbuh” by a nonrhotic speaker). Additionally, even Americans and Brits with the same accent or dialect may pronounce a word differently. Ask some of your friends how they pronounce “New Orleans” and you’ll probably get a quick example of this. All of that being said, there are many words that, in general, are often pronounced differently by many speakers of British English and American English. Some of these different pronunciations are less dramatic. Here are some examples of words that have relatively minor pronunciation differences: advertisement American: [ ad-ver- tahyz -m uh nt ] British: [ ad- vur -tis-m uh nt ] American: [ mawl ] British: [ mal ] American: [ mis – uh l ] British: [ mis -ahyl ] American: [ dahy -n uh -stee ] British: [ din – uh -stee ] American: [ ba- boon ] British: [ b uh – boon ] Learn the difference between different British monetary terms with this look at  quid vs. pound. Other words have much more dramatic pronunciation differences. Some examples include: American: [ zee -br uh ] British: [ zeb -r uh ] American: [ fig -yer ] British: [ fig -er ] American: [ slawth ] British: [ slohth ] American: [ skej -ool or skej -oo- uh l ] British: [ shed -yool or shej -ool ] And we’ll finish with an especially strange one: American: [ loo- ten – uh nt ] British: [ lef- ten – uh nt ] As you can see, English can change quite a bit when going from Big Ben to the Big Apple. We merely scratched the surface, and there are tons more differences to be found, but you can test yourself on the nuances you’ve learned here with this quiz . You may want to keep an eye out the next time you check out a word or phrase in our dictionary because you might just discover a new difference in American and British English you didn’t even know about! Learn about what "consort" and other terms related specifically to British royal traditions here. Trending Words [ ahy -wing-ker ] Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Lifestyles & Social Issues Philosophy & Religion Politics, Law & Government World History Health & Medicine Browse Biographies Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates Environment Fossils & Geologic Time Geography & Travel Entertainment & Pop Culture Sports & Recreation Visual Arts Recently Posted Household finance. Biographies Finance & the Economy New Articles Dictionaries home American English Collocations German-English Grammar home Practical English Usage Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta) Word Lists home My Word Lists Recent additions Resources home Text Checker Definition of autobiography noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary autobiography Take your English to the next level The Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus explains the difference between groups of similar words. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Get a quick, free translation! Type your text and click Translate to see the translation, and to get links to dictionary entries for the words in your text. To keep translating, sign up for a free Cambridge Dictionary account Translate up to 50,000 characters per day Get access to exclusive Cambridge content and games Build your vocabulary with word lists and quizzes created by Cambridge experts, or create your own Subscribe to our learner or teacher newsletter for lessons, quizzes, grammar tips and more Choose other languages Translation dictionaries. Check your understanding of English words with definitions in your own language using Cambridge's corpus-informed translation dictionaries and the Password and Global dictionaries from K Dictionaries. English definitions Choose from corpus-informed dictionaries for English language learners at all levels. 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How to use the words ‘worse’ and ‘worst’ Word of the Day Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio to move the pedals (= parts you operate with your feet) backwards on a bicycle Learn more with +Plus Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}} Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Dictionary +Plus Word Lists 493 IMAGES PPT 34 Best Autobiography Examples: Types and Writing Guide Autobiography in english literature Autobiography definition ppt Autobiography English Notes Autobiography VIDEO Biography and Autobiography. English literature Class BA Sem 1 #viralshort #spellingchallenge #spellinggenius #autobiography #schoolactivity #englishteaching #fln Mohab Autobiography|autobiography for kids Autobiography in English Literature Biography & Autobiography| Meaning, Features & Difference explained in Tamil| Non Fiction| Literary Autobiography COMMENTS Autobiography Definition & Meaning autobiography: [noun] the biography of a person narrated by himself or herself. AUTOBIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY definition: 1. a book about a person's life, written by that person: 2. the area of literature relating to…. Learn more. Autobiography Spiritual autobiography. Spiritual autobiography is an account of an author's struggle or journey towards God, followed by conversion a religious conversion, often interrupted by moments of regression. The author re-frames their life as a demonstration of divine intention through encounters with the Divine. The earliest example of a spiritual ... 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: A personal account that a person writes himself/herself. Memoir: An account of one's memory. Reflective Essay: One's thoughts about something. Confession: An account of one's wrong or right doings. Monologue: An address of one's thoughts to some audience or interlocuters. Biography: An account of the life of other persons ... 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 autobiography, n. meanings, etymology and more 1797-. An account of a person's life given by himself or herself, esp. one published in book form. Also: the process of writing such an account; these considered as a literary genre. Also in extended use. 1797. Autobiography: definition and examples autobiography, Biography of oneself narrated by oneself. Little autobiographical literature exists from antiquity and the Middle Ages; with a handful of exceptions, the form begins to appear only in the 15th century. Autobiographical works take many forms, from intimate writings made during life that are not necessarily intended for publication ... autobiography noun Definition of autobiography noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. Autobiography: Definition and Examples Definition & Examples. I. What is Autobiography? An autobiography is a self-written life story. It is different from a biography, which is the life story of a person written by someone else. Some people may have their life story written by another person because they don't believe they can write well, but they are still considered an author ... Definition and Examples of Autobiography "Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people." (attributed to Thomas Carlyle, Philip Guedalla, and others) Autobiography and Memoir - "An autobiography is the story of a life: the name implies that the writer will somehow attempt to capture all the essential elements of that life. A writer's autobiography, for ... 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. Autobiography in Literature: Definition & Examples Autobiography Definition. An autobiography (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written biography. The author writes about all or a portion of their own life to share their experience, frame it in a larger cultural or historical context, and/or inform and entertain the reader. Autobiographies have been a popular literary genre for centuries. Autobiography Definition, Examples, and Writing Guide Autobiography Definition, Examples, and Writing Guide. As a firsthand account of the author's own life, an autobiography offers readers an unmatched level of intimacy. Learn how to write your first autobiography with examples from MasterClass instructors. 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 autobiography meaning: a book written by someone about their own life. Learn more. Biography vs. Autobiography: Differences and Features Analyze the differences: biography vs autobiography. Includes descriptions & examples of each. We've even highlighted key differences for easy reference. Autobiography Definition & Meaning Autobiography definition: The biography of a person written by that person. Autobiography Define autobiography. autobiography synonyms, autobiography pronunciation, autobiography translation, English dictionary definition of autobiography. n. pl. au·to·bi·og·ra·phies The biography of a person written by that person. au′to·bi·og′ra·pher n. au′to·bi′o·graph′ic , au′to·bi′o·graph′i·cal adj.... AUTOBIOGRAPHY definition in American English Definition of autobiography from the Collins English Dictionary. Read about the team of authors behind Collins Dictionaries. New from Collins Quick word challenge. Quiz Review. Question: 1 - ... Download our English Dictionary apps - available for both iOS and Android. Read more. autobiography autobiographies. definition: the events of a person's life written or told by that person. His recently published autobiography contains several surprising confessions. similar words: memoir. related words: life. British English vs. American English: Words, Spelling, And Pronunciation American: [ ba- boon ] British: [ b uh - boon ] Learn the difference between different British monetary terms with this look at quid vs. pound. Other words have much more dramatic pronunciation differences. Some examples include: zebra. American: [ zee -br uh ] British: [ zeb -r uh ] figure. Britannica Money: Where your financial journey begins The paradox of thrift: Understanding economic behavior in recessions. Individually great; collectively painful. Find all you need to know about retirement, investing, and household finance, without the jargon or agenda. Get guidance, insight, and easy-to-understand explanations, verified to Britannica's standards. Cambridge Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus Cambridge Dictionary - English dictionary, English-Spanish translation and British & American English audio pronunciation from Cambridge University Press 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 ... Free Online Translation Tool Free online translator enhanced by dictionary definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, examples and supporting the 19 languages most used on the web. case study cover letter presentation problem solving rewiew prompts websites tips