Graphy By Etymonline - Meaning Of Suffix

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Origin and history of -graphy

-graphy

word-forming element meaning "process of writing or recording" or "a writing, recording, or description" (in modern use especially in forming names of descriptive sciences), from French or German -graphie, from Greek -graphia "description of," used in abstract nouns from graphein "write, express by written characters," earlier "to draw, represent by lines drawn," originally "to scrape, scratch" (on clay tablets with a stylus), from PIE root *gerbh- "to scratch, carve" (see carve).

Entries linking to -graphy

carve(v.)

Middle English kerven (the initial -k- is from influence of Scandinavian forms), from Old English ceorfan (class III strong verb; past tense cearf, past participle corfen) "to cut," also "cut down, slay; cut out," from West Germanic *kerbanan (source also of Old Frisian kerva, Middle Dutch and Dutch kerven, German kerben "to cut, notch"), from PIE root *gerbh- "to scratch," making carve the English cognate of Greek graphein "to write," originally "to scratch" on clay tablets with a stylus.

Once extensively used and the general verb for "to cut;" most senses now have passed to cut (v.) and since 16c. carve has been restricted to specialized senses such as "cut (solid material) into the representation of an object or a design" (late Old English); "cut (meat, etc.) into pieces or slices" (early 13c.); "produce by cutting" (mid-13c.); "decorate by carving" (late 14c.). Related: Carved; carving. The original strong conjugation has been abandoned, but archaic past-participle adjective carven lingers poetically.

angiography(n.)

1731, "description of the vessels of the body" (blood and nymph), from angio- "blood vessel" + -graphy.

• astrography
• autograph
• bibliography
• biography
• bromatography
• calligraphy
• capnography
• cartography
• chirography
• choreography
• chromatography
• cinema
• climatography
• cosmography
• craniography
• cryptography
• crystallography
• dactylography
• See All Related Words (80)

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autograph"a person's signature," 1791, from French autographe, from Late Latin autographum, from Greek autographon, neuter of autographos "written with one's own hand," from autos "self" (see auto-) + graphein "to write" (originally "to scratch;" see -graphy). Used earlier (1640s) to meanbibliography1670s, "the writing of books," from Greek bibliographia "the writing of books," from biblion "book" (see biblio-) + graphos "(something) drawn or written" (see -graphy). The meaning "the study of books, authors, publications, etc.," is from 1803. The sense of "a list of books thabiography1680s, "the histories of individual lives, as a branch of literature," probably from Medieval Latin biographia, from later Greek biographia "description of life" (which was not in classical Greek, bios alone being the word there for it), from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwephysiology1560s, "study and description of natural objects, natural philosophy" (a sense now obsolete), from French physiologie (16c.) or directly from Latin physiologia "natural science, study of nature," from Greek physiologia "natural science, inquiry into nature," from physios "nature"loo"lavatory," 1940, but perhaps 1922 (based on a pun of Joyce's); perhaps [Dictionary of American Slang] from French lieux d'aisances "lavatory," literally "place of ease," picked up by British servicemen in France during World War I. Or possibly a pun on Waterloo, based on water cdesertc. 1600, transitive, "to leave, abandon," either in a good or bad sense; 1640s, in reference to military service or duty, "leave without permission;" from French déserter "cause to leave," literally "undo or sever connection," from Late Latin desertare, frequentative of Latin desHebrewlate Old English, from Old French Ebreu, from Latin Hebraeus, from Greek Hebraios, from Aramaic (Semitic) 'ebhrai, corresponding to Hebrew 'ibhri "an Israelite." Traditionally from an ancestral name Eber, but probably literally "one from the other side," perhaps in reference to tequivocal"of doubtful signification, capable of being understood in different senses," c. 1600, with -al (1) + Late Latin aequivocus "of identical sound, of equal voice, of equal significance, ambiguous, of like sound," past participle of aequivocare, from aequus "equal" (see equal (adj.)legacylate 14c., legacie, "body of persons sent on a mission," from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus "ambassador, envoy, deputy," noun use of past participle of legare "send with a commission, appoint as deputy, appoint by a last will" (see legate). Sense of "property left bygobbledygookalso gobbledegook, "the overinvolved, pompous talk of officialdom" [Klein], 1944, American English, first used by Texas politician Maury Maverick (1895-1954), a grandson of the inspiration for maverick and chairman of U.S. Smaller War Plants Corporation during World War II, in a

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/-graphyCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/-graphy">Etymology of -graphy by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of -graphy. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 10, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/-graphyCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of -graphy," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 10, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-graphy.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of -graphy." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/-graphy. Accessed 10 January, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of -graphy." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/-graphy (accessed January 10, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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TrendingDictionary entries near -graphy

• graphic
• graphics
• graphite
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